Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Raised by Venture Visionary Partners LLC

Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 215,217 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,829 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Venture Visionary Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $90,724,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,675,715,000 after buying an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,829,031 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,787,934,000 after buying an additional 1,408,374 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

MSFT opened at $470.38 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $473.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $417.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $416.68.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.59.

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.