Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Cut by Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,211 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,911 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.9% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% 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, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $463.87 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $413.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $415.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued 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 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.