Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Reduced by Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN

Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,831 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 445 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.6% of Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8%

MSFT opened at $524.11 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $489.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $435.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

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.