Progressive Investment Management Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Progressive Investment Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 84,986 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,374 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 9.2% of Progressive Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Progressive Investment Management Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 180,685 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,159,000 after acquiring an additional 14,186 shares in the last quarter. Pamplona Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,756,000. DnB Asset Management AS increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 4,656,797 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,962,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,363,885 shares in the last quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 141,959 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NBZ Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,239,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $2.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $470.38. 15,271,762 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,523,496. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $473.34. The company's 50-day moving average price is $417.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $416.68. The company has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft Company 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.