Baker Avenue Asset Management LP Has $113.14 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Baker Avenue Asset Management LP cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 268,429 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 6,830 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.5% of Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $113,143,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $536,200,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $18,667,000. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,546 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,198,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Bearing Point Capital LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $14,313,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 318,573 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $134,389,000 after acquiring an additional 9,336 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $474.96 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $480.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $428.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.55.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.