Bridges Investment Management Inc. Has $400.49 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 950,154 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 15,967 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.6% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $400,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $433.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $387.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.42. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

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.