Redwood Investments LLC Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Redwood Investments LLC reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,752 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,863 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Redwood Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Redwood Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 534.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $411.84 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $415.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $384.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $275.37 and a twelve month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.03.

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.