Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Has $1.28 Billion Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,010,160 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 376,803 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.8% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,278,806,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Wedbush upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $458.87 on Tuesday. 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 $3.41 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 moving average price is $396.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.71. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.