Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC reduced its Microsoft holdings by 3.1%, now owning 142,281 shares worth approximately $53.4 million, making it the firm's fourth largest position.
• Institutional investors collectively own 71.13% of Microsoft, with notable increases in stakes from Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC in recent quarters.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft shares, with Goldman Sachs now setting a target of $550.00 and Citigroup adjusting it to $613.00, indicating strong market confidence in the stock.

Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 142,281 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,497 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.1% of Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $53,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $555.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.67 on Wednesday, reaching $513.24. 25,399,623 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,947,285. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $518.29. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $486.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $433.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.