Dearborn Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dearborn Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 214,540 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 533 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.8% of Dearborn Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Dearborn Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $90,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% in the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $454.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business has a 50-day moving average of $395.33 and a 200-day moving average of $412.61. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.16.

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.