Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 45.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,576,983 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,322,625 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.5% of ING Groep NV's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. ING Groep NV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $664,698,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parcion Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 71,927 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,317,000 after buying an additional 989 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch SE grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 3,483,360 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,468,236,000 after acquiring an additional 127,575 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp now owns 4,371 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 21,692 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,143,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 86,580 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $38,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $387.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $385.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.53. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $493.13.

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.

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