Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Triple Frond Partners LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Triple Frond Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 278,458 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 26,314 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 15.2% of Triple Frond Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Triple Frond Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $117,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,908,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Trail Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 124,178 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $53,434,000 after acquiring an additional 7,621 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.98 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $462.95. The company had a trading volume of 7,888,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,432,333. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's 50-day moving average is $410.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $415.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 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.