Caledonia Investments PLC Sells 17,000 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Caledonia Investments PLC lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 262,617 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 17,000 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 13.3% of Caledonia Investments PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Caledonia Investments PLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $98,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $87,000. Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Family CFO Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $303.40 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $413.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $390.05.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

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.