Ycg LLC Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ycg LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 245,584 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 386 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 7.6% of Ycg LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Ycg LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $92,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the period. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Valicenti Advisory Services Inc. now owns 51,407 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 28,852 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,456,000 after buying an additional 1,686 shares during the period. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC now owns 73,984 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,360,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the period. Finally, Aurora Private Wealth Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 5,264 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 1,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $412.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $413.90 and a 200-day moving average of $392.17. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $306.26 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.