Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,842 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,374 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.9% of AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150,160 shares during the period. Priebe Wealth Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $823,000. Private Wealth Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $295,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 145,913 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $54,869,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $2,179,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $409.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $413.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $392.05. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $306.09 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 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 owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.