Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Perkins Capital Management Inc.

Perkins Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,410 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.6% of Perkins Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Perkins Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

MSFT traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,504,528. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $409.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $415.17.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.