Ariel Investments LLC Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Jun 13th, 2023

Ariel Investments LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 999,813 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,261 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.4% of Ariel Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $239,775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors Inc. now owns 3,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $898,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Providence First Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Providence First Trust Co now owns 1,645 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 11,976 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,076,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Denver Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Denver Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $323,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daniels&Tansey LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Daniels&Tansey LLP now owns 1,488 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $357,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $310.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $307.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $275.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $212.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $347.00 to $385.00 in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $331.74.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total value of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 874 shares in the company, valued at $292,588.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 874 shares in the company, valued at approximately $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.09, for a total transaction of $9,182,700.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 117,456 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,952,107.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 51,331 shares of company stock worth $15,867,278 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $331.85 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $213.43 and a 52 week high of $338.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $307.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.22 by $0.23. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.25% and a return on equity of 38.98%. The firm had revenue of $52.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $51.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.22 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 9.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Profile

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Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft Viva, and Skype for Business; Skype, Outlook.com, OneDrive, and LinkedIn; and Dynamics 365, a set of cloud-based and on-premises business solutions for organizations and enterprise divisions.