AKO Capital LLP Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

AKO Capital LLP reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.7% in Q4, now holding 1,142,735 shares valued at $481.66 million. Other institutional investors also increased their stakes. Microsoft shares opened at $462.97, with a market cap of $3.44 trillion and a P/E ratio of 37.28. The company reported a Q1 EPS of $3.46, exceeding estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83, payable on June 12.

AKO Capital LLP lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,142,735 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 122,525 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.7% of AKO Capital LLP's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. AKO Capital LLP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $481,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Microsoft Stock Near Peak, Pullback Seen as Opportunity

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

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Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $462.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $411.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $415.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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