Marco Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Marco Investment Management LLC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 78,686 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,852 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.0% of Marco Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Marco Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 160.7% during the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant's stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $465.00 price target (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie boosted their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $456.83.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $415.13. The company's stock had a trading volume of 47,967,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,466,695. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $433.60. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $416.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $400.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.