Prudential PLC Sells 47,364 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prudential PLC reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 618,712 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 47,364 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.3% of Prudential PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Prudential PLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $260,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.91 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $474.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,787,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,485,134. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business's 50 day moving average price is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.26. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $480.42. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 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.