Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Sells 1,814 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,982 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,814 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 7.2% of Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY's holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Net Worth Advisory Group bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,645,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant's stock worth $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 1,975,200 shares of the software giant's stock worth $882,816,000 after purchasing an additional 31,401 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Jacobs & Co. CA now owns 96,021 shares of the software giant's stock worth $41,318,000 after purchasing an additional 880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $7.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $408.25. 27,440,364 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,515,041. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $425.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.79. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.96.

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.