Parametrica Management Ltd Sells 981 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Parametrica Management Ltd lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 35.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,750 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 981 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.0% of Parametrica Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Parametrica Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

MSFT stock traded up $1.45 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $464.42. The company had a trading volume of 7,698,971 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,424,473. The company has a 50 day moving average of $411.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $415.62. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, 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 $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

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.