Bridges Investment Management Inc. Sells 18,079 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 417,576 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 18,079 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.2% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $157,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,956 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after purchasing an additional 88,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,620,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,353,488,000 after purchasing an additional 207,591 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $414.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $386.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.12%.

Microsoft Company 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.