Long Walk Management LP Sells 2,250 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Long Walk Management LP trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 29,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,250 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.1% of Long Walk Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Long Walk Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after buying an additional 88,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $413.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $389.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $303.40 and a 52 week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.