Ithaka Group LLC Has $35.46 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ithaka Group LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,133 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,518 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.5% of Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th 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 last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.30.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $458.87 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $396.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.71.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.