Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Shelton Capital Management

Shelton Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 521,386 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 29,654 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.5% of Shelton Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Shelton Capital Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $219,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FIL Ltd increased its holdings 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 last quarter. Canopy Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 26,260 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,069,000 after buying an additional 3,273 shares during the last quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Elgethun Capital Management increased its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,412,385 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,438,320,000 after purchasing an additional 56,464 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $478.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $418.26. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. 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 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.