Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC Has $6.28 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,735 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,552 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Prairie Sky Financial Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,282,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 target price (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $503.32. 16,454,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,657,924. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $506.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $469.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $425.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.