Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lowered by Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.

Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,815 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 829 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.9% of Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Ipswich Investment Management Co. Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $541.79.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

MSFT stock traded down $1.65 during trading on Friday, reaching $510.05. The stock had a trading volume of 21,120,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,614,929. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $514.64. The company's 50 day moving average is $477.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.49.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% 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 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.