Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Reduced by Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.

Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,803 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,107 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.6% of Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $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 valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.04 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. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $386.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.