Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,692 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,426 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.8% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,565,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 65,671 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $27,680,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC now owns 4,457 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,879,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. IFG Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. IFG Advisors LLC now owns 5,960 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,512,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Kinsale Capital Group Inc. now owns 22,327 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,411,000 after acquiring an additional 2,289 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 77,610 shares of the software giant's stock worth $32,971,000 after acquiring an additional 14,426 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $433.35 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $387.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.42. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Microsoft Company 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.

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