Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is AMI Asset Management Corp’s 2nd Largest Position

AMI Asset Management Corp reduced its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,563 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,714 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.6% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $96,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $524.94 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $494.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.01. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.