PGGM Investments Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

PGGM Investments lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 429,734 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 64,880 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of PGGM Investments' holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. PGGM Investments' holdings in Microsoft were worth $181,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 43,900.4% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $512.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety 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 Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $5.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $452.57. The stock had a trading volume of 19,196,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,549,924. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $398.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 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.