Fruth Investment Management Sells 152 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Fruth Investment Management lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,225 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 152 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.3% of Fruth Investment Management’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Fruth Investment Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 348.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $894,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,324,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.4 %

Microsoft stock opened at $421.90 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $415.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $382.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $460.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.52.

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.