Prudential PLC Has $260.79 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Prudential PLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 618,712 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 47,364 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Prudential PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $260,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $472.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $419.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $417.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $473.43. 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 announced 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. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.59.

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.