Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 943,354 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 32,688 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.5% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $354,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 25.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 67,307 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,252,000 after purchasing an additional 13,586 shares in the last quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Advance Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,958 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,144,000 after purchasing an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 108,149 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped 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 research 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, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $402.25 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $414.45 and its 200-day moving average is $389.01. The firm has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $303.40 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders 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.