Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 45.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,576,983 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,322,625 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.5% of ING Groep NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $664,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the third quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 263,534 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,399,000 after purchasing an additional 18,544 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 76,296 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $32,830,000 after buying an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Wealth Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $3,314,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $387.30 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $385.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $411.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $493.13.

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.