Castleark Management LLC lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 339,924 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 47,680 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 5.0% of Castleark Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Castleark Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $143,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Collective Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Collective Family Office LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,090,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 117,366 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $49,470,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $565.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, June 13th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $515.68.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
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.
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