Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Cut by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 99.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,383 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,568,888 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.89.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $478.87 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $425.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.26. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $480.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.