Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Westchester Capital Management Inc.

Westchester Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 71,945 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,255 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.6% of Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Westchester Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in 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% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in 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 buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $860,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.30.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Microsoft stock opened at $454.27 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $395.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $412.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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.