Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Holderness Investments Co.

Holderness Investments Co. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,456 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,470 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 6.5% of Holderness Investments Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Holderness Investments Co.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,504,528. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $409.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $415.11. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft 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.