Baskin Financial Services Inc. Trims Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Baskin Financial Services Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,695 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 4,692 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 5.8% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $63,812,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $679,928,000. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 243.6% in the 3rd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,151,555 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $679,353,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $400.96 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $386.37. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. 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 report on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.