Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by AFS Financial Group LLC

AFS Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 55.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,253 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,449 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.9% of AFS Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. AFS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. FMR LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $679,928,000. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Microsoft by 9.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 243.6% during the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,151,555 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $679,353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525,367 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $434.05.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $409.06 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $275.37 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $414.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $387.09.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

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.