Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,967 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,806 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.2% of Sentry Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $3,314,000. Finally, Centric Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,789,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $395.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average of $383.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $410.91. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $475.00 price objective (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.89.

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.