Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Reduced by Motco

Motco lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,587 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,317 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.5% of Motco's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Motco's holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 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-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $433.35. The stock had a trading volume of 23,291,874 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,367,253. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $386.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.89, 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.