Fenimore Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Fenimore Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,367 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 836 shares during the quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. WJ Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.8% in the third quarter. WJ Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,438 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,611,000 after acquiring an additional 528 shares during the period. Navalign LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 26.8% during the 3rd quarter. Navalign LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,491,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 132,839 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,944,000 after acquiring an additional 11,068 shares during the period. Finally, Wade Financial Advisory Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wade Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,595 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,135,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $400.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $414.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $386.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

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.