Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Oak Asset Management LLC

Oak Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,951 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.5% of Oak Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,976,000 after buying an additional 3,209 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after buying an additional 5,366 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its stake in Microsoft by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now 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 through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.05.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $414.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $386.93. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid 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 yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.