Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Woodstock Corp

Woodstock Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 161,601 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,571 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.0% of Woodstock Corp's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Woodstock Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $495.94 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $499.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50-day moving average of $449.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.12. The stock has a market cap 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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