Washburn Capital Management Inc. Has $3.24 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Washburn Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,622 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of Washburn Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Washburn Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $679,928,000. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Microsoft by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 243.6% during the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,151,555 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $679,353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525,367 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $409.06 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $414.59 and a 200 day moving average of $387.09. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Raymond James upped their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

About Microsoft

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.