Sentry LLC Has $11.32 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sentry LLC trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,857 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,899 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of Sentry LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Sentry LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,799,261 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,204,664,000 after acquiring an additional 49,735 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 32,471 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,972,000 after acquiring an additional 1,068 shares during the period. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 24,002 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,328,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $391.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $376.91 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $408.82 and a 200-day moving average of $419.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

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.