Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Skyline Advisors Inc.

Skyline Advisors Inc. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,393 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 9.3% of Skyline Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Skyline Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,780,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,591,126,000 after buying an additional 277,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,544,532,000 after purchasing an additional 403,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price target (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $469.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $454.70 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.37, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $435.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Microsoft 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.