Sandy Spring Bank Has $87.72 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sandy Spring Bank cut its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,119 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,737 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.6% of Sandy Spring Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th 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. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 43,900.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $450.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $403.62 and its 200 day moving average is $414.03. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.