Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Rakuten Securities Inc.

Rakuten Securities Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,293 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,229 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.4% of Rakuten Securities Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Rakuten Securities Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,898,314,000 after buying an additional 324,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 110,243 shares of company stock worth $48,619,618. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $458.17. The company had a trading volume of 15,422,215 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,538,085. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $396.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $412.71. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.