Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Decreased by Swisher Financial Concepts Inc.

Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,132 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,695 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of Swisher Financial Concepts Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Swisher Financial Concepts Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Shelton Capital Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 521,386 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $219,764,000 after acquiring an additional 29,654 shares during the period. FIL Ltd raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 8,384,811 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,534,198,000 after buying an additional 192,464 shares during the period. Canopy Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 26,260 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,069,000 after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 6,178 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,604,000 after purchasing an additional 789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elgethun Capital Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Elgethun Capital Management now owns 24,159 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,183,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.89.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

MSFT opened at $478.87 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $480.42. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.26. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 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 for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.