Boltwood Capital Management Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Boltwood Capital Management lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,007 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.2% of Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,155,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $446.34 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $450.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $419.05 and a 200 day moving average of $406.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.83.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.