IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Has $44.57 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 105,750 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 542 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.3% of IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,574,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th 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 raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th 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 position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $470.38. The company had a trading volume of 15,271,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,491,705. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $415.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $416.31. 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 company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $473.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.