Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Kinetic Partners Management LP's 3rd Largest Position

Kinetic Partners Management LP lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 26.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 220,095 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 80,100 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 6.5% of Kinetic Partners Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Kinetic Partners Management LP's holdings in Microsoft were worth $92,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant's stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Partnership Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,609,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $3.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $424.80. 16,352,094 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,949,572. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $436.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.56. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Mizuho increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $494.72.

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.