Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. Has $165.36 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 440,500 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.6% of Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $165,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fosun International Ltd raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.81 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $524.94. 21,298,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,431,307. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $492.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $436.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.