Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda

Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 33.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,786 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,854 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.9% of Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $4.02 during trading on Monday, hitting $427.87. The stock had a trading volume of 13,983,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,129,012. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $433.60. The business's 50-day moving average is $416.20 and its 200 day moving average is $402.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $463.69.

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.