Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Sells 190,095 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,570,216 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 190,095 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.1% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,504,846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $9.88 on Friday, reaching $435.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 30,732,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,356,348. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $384.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. 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 prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.

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.