Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lowered by PrairieView Partners LLC

PrairieView Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,321 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. PrairieView Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its stake 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 worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% in 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 in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,625,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after acquiring an additional 88,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.66 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $390.05. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.