FreeGulliver LLC Has $971,000 Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FreeGulliver LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,304 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 869 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.5% of FreeGulliver LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. FreeGulliver LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $971,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $450.18 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $402.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.85.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by 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.