Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Pitcairn Co.

Pitcairn Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,872 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,829 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.5% of Pitcairn Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Pitcairn Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $42,096,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Guidance Point Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $2,526,000. Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $4,686,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,019 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $21,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,849 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 258,985 shares of the software giant's stock worth $109,162,000 after purchasing an additional 31,270 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

MSFT opened at $470.38 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $473.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $417.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $416.68. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company 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%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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