Hickory Asset Management Inc. Sells 155 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,452 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.5% of Hickory Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Hickory Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in 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 worth $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.04.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $505.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $474.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $427.28. 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 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $508.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 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.