Oak Asset Management LLC Sells 50 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oak Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,951 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.5% of Oak Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Oak Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC increased its stake 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. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after acquiring an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,369,562,000 after acquiring an additional 88,583 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,620,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,353,488,000 after purchasing an additional 207,591 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $414.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $386.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $275.37 and a 52-week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Microsoft Company 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.