Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Tradewinds LLC.'s 3rd Largest Position

Tradewinds LLC. boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,043 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.6% of Tradewinds LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Tradewinds LLC.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th 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. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

MSFT stock traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $470.38. 15,271,762 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,523,496. The firm's 50 day moving average is $417.20 and its 200 day moving average is $416.67. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend 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 presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Tigress Financial upped 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. Finally, TD Securities upped 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.59.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.