Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Trimmed by Patten & Patten Inc. TN

Patten & Patten Inc. TN lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 159,109 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 691 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.4% of Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $67,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $454.86 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $401.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $413.59. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price objective (up from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

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.