Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Thompson Investment Management Inc.

Thompson Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,098 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,530 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.4% of Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position 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 worth $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $424.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $410.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $457.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

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.