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

Everstar Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 29.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,852 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 755 shares during the period. Everstar Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 848,018 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $357,440,000 after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,687 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,769,000 after buying an additional 3,383 shares during the period. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,575,000 after acquiring an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC now owns 16,062 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,723,000 after acquiring an additional 7,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inkwell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $1,086,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $467.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $469.65. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $415.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $416.31.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

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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