Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.

Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 200,221 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 957 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.2% of Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $84,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after purchasing an additional 652,493 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,007,285,000 after purchasing an additional 636,713 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $387.30 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $385.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.