Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. Sells 12,756 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 758,556 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 12,756 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.7% of Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $319,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.8% in the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Sequent Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the third quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 3.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $11.13 on Wednesday, hitting $377.95. The company had a trading volume of 4,482,807 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,177,769. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $386.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.43, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $497.63.

Microsoft 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.