PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd Has $14.13 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,512 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,505 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.4% of PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% 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 Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction 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 $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $2.70 on Friday, reaching $470.38. The company had a trading volume of 15,268,509 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,465,117. 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 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $473.29. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $415.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $416.31.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.