Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.

Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C. reduced its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 37.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 26,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.0% of Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Kingdon Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,358,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th 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 period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft 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 $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.83.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $446.34 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $418.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $405.81. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $450.94. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 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 currently 25.97%.

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.