Front Street Capital Management Inc. Sells 159 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Front Street Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,612 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 0.8% of Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Front Street Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Generation Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,748,000. Holcombe Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $259,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC now owns 30,395 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,812,000 after buying an additional 1,635 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 307,156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,466,000 after buying an additional 4,818 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 22,317 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,407,000 after buying an additional 4,204 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $474.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $480.42. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $428.05 and its 200 day moving average is $418.65.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.