Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Carret Asset Management LLC

Carret Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 117,977 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,723 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.4% of Carret Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Carret Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $49,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.30.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

Microsoft stock opened at $458.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company's 50-day moving average price is $398.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $413.04. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,243 shares of company stock valued at $48,619,618. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.

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