Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Cut by Mirova US LLC

Mirova US LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,546,921 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 46,448 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 7.8% of Mirova US LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Mirova US LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $652,027,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 43,900.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $10.51 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $460.69. The stock had a trading volume of 20,932,633 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,585,267. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $403.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $414.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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.