Sterling Investment Management LLC Trims Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sterling Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,887 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 26 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.2% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $4.07 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $402.25. The company had a trading volume of 19,566,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,087,611. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $414.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $389.01. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 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 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.