Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is William Blair Investment Management LLC's Largest Position

William Blair Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,431,154 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 131,324 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.6% of William Blair Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. William Blair Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Microsoft worth $1,867,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Raymond James raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $459.73. 2,467,567 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,511,920. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $405.09 and a 200 day moving average of $414.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.