Primecap Management Co. CA Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Primecap Management Co. CA cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,548,640 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 298,375 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Primecap Management Co. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.13% of Microsoft worth $4,024,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 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. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's 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 directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company'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. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $450.18 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $402.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $413.90. 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 company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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