Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Decreased by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,363,421 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 7,709 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.9% of Boston Trust Walden Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $512,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sicart Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $414.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $387.70. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $295.25 and a twelve month high of $430.82.

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. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.