JLB & Associates Inc. Has $27.63 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

JLB & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 73,488 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.0% of JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. JLB & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,976,000 after purchasing an additional 3,209 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after purchasing an additional 5,366 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in Microsoft by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $399.12 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $414.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.83. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft 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.