Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Reduced by Seelaus Asset Management LLC

Seelaus Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,031 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 484 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.6% of Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $87,000. Family CFO Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 13.6% during the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 647.8% during the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $413.54 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $306.09 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $413.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $391.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

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