Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Shufro Rose & Co. LLC

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,171 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,019 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.7% of Shufro Rose & Co. LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

MSFT stock traded down $2.84 during trading on Friday, hitting $477.40. 37,241,095 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,515,262. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $437.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $420.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $483.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.