Ithaka Group LLC Reduces Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ithaka Group LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 84,133 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 5,518 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 6.5% of Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Ithaka Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,462,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.30.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $458.87 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average of $396.84 and a 200-day moving average of $412.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738 in the last quarter. 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.