Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Baxter Bros Inc.

Baxter Bros Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 135,991 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,100 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.7% of Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Baxter Bros Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $495.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $449.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $421.93. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $499.30. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $521.14.

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.

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