Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lowered by B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,674,273 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 76,462 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.3% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Microsoft were worth $706,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth 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 boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth 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 in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $470.38. 15,271,762 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,523,496. 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 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $473.34. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $417.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $416.67. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. 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 is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 owned by insiders.

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.