Taika Capital LP Decreases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Taika Capital LP trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 61.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,712 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,454 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.5% of Taika Capital LP's holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Taika Capital LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $509.16.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $1.14 on Friday, reaching $454.27. The stock had a trading volume of 23,797,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,538,550. The business's 50 day moving average is $395.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $412.61. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 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.