KCM Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

KCM Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 309,763 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,820 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.5% of KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $130,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $470.92 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $473.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $420.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $417.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.57.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, 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 directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.