Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Decreased by GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd

GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 887,410 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 117,639 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 6.0% of GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. GUARDCAP ASSET MANAGEMENT Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $374,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,908,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

MSFT stock traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $461.97. The stock had a trading volume of 16,604,304 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,485,813. The firm has a market cap of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.20, 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. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company's 50-day moving average price is $410.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.