Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sawgrass Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Sawgrass Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 5.1%, now holding 129,081 shares valued at approximately $48.5 million, making it the fund's largest position.
• During the last quarter, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5%, now owning about 684 million shares valued at $288.3 billion.
• Microsoft recently reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $76.44 billion and a 36.15% net margin.

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 129,081 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 6,876 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.9% of Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $48,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $9.39 during trading on Friday, hitting $524.11. 28,948,527 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,331,950. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $489.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $434.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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%.

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.