Red Cedar Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Red Cedar Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,625 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,020 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Red Cedar Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Red Cedar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after purchasing an additional 38,422,466 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Microsoft by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $367.78. The company had a trading volume of 20,940,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,277,339. The company has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.61, 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $389.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $413.21.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $475.00 price target (down previously from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $499.97.

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.