Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Trimmed by Norris Perne & French LLP MI

Norris Perne & French LLP MI lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,806 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.9% of Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Norris Perne & French LLP MI’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $89,049,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sicart Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Sonen Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,199,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $399.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $414.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.83. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $275.37 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.