Merrion Investment Management Co LLC decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,951 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 60 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Merrion Investment Management Co LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after purchasing an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 29,789.2% during the first quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,477,000 after purchasing an additional 16,515,452 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson raised their price target on Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a research report on Friday, July 21st. UBS Group upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $345.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on Microsoft from $310.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $376.34.
Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $327.26 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $213.43 and a 52 week high of $366.78. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $324.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $319.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 28.07%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock valued at $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
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.
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