Ervin Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ervin Investment Management LLC cut its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,993 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,422 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 11.5% of Ervin Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Ervin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th 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. Cooksen Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $461.02. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $427.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

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.