Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Factory Mutual Insurance Co.

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,089,768 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 13,400 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.7% of Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $409,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $541.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $510.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $514.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business’s fifty day moving average is $477.78 and its 200-day moving average is $428.49.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.