Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,352,163 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 151,515 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.3% of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,834,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other 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 transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, 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
Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $467.68. 20,094,702 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,489,870. The company has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 50-day simple moving average of $413.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $415.95. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $469.58.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given 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 payout ratio is presently 25.66%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
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