Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Cut by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,357,426 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 247,935 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 7.7% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Microsoft worth $2,253,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in 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 during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $87,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $445.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $419.41 and a 200 day moving average of $406.37. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $450.94.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft 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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.83.

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.