Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. cut its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 447,507 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 10,768 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 10.5% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $168,280,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $87,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.83.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.99 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $442.57. 13,581,985 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,602,950. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $443.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $417.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $404.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.