Carlson Capital Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Carlson Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,382 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 19,425 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.4% of Carlson Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Carlson Capital Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,154,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 286.8% in the 1st quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 21,612 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,093,000 after acquiring an additional 16,025 shares in the last quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA raised its holdings in Microsoft by 5.5% in the first quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 66,295 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $27,892,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. lifted its position in Microsoft by 29.7% during the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 1,228 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $517,000 after buying an additional 281 shares during the period. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $11,427,000. Finally, Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,829 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,398,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $446.95 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $424.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $409.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $456.17. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 2.39 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.