Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Reduced by LaFleur & Godfrey LLC

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC trimmed its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 88,573 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,448 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.1% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,007,285,000 after acquiring an additional 636,713 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $449.14. The company had a trading volume of 22,927,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,468,471. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $390.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio 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.