Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by ExodusPoint Capital Management LP

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 97.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,996 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 609,503 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $470.38 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $417.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $416.68. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $473.34. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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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