Focused Investors LLC Sells 58,800 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Focused Investors LLC decreased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 563,350 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 58,800 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.9% of Focused Investors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Focused Investors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $211,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Family CFO Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 13.6% in the third 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 period. Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 647.8% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was 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 owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of 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. Insiders have sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock valued at $12,160,356 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 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. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $389.54.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.