Fairman Group LLC Takes Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,132 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $802,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.8% of Fairman Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Napatree Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,468,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $184,000. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. now owns 472 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ariston Services Group purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $241,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $446.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $418.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $405.81. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $450.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. New Street Research started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $465.83.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.