Skyline Advisors Inc. Sells 467 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Skyline Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,192 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 467 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 7.0% of Skyline Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Skyline Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

MSFT opened at $503.32 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $470.64 and a 200-day moving average of $425.76. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.14.

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.