Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lowered by Columbus Macro LLC

Columbus Macro LLC reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,442 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Columbus Macro LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,591,126,000 after buying an additional 277,881 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $424.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $410.15. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $457.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

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.