Nicollet Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Nicollet Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 52,876 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,003 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 7.7% of Nicollet Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Nicollet Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,287,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first 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 last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,908,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portolan Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Portolan Capital Management LLC now owns 5,538 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,383,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $470.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $417.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $416.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $473.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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