Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lessened by Cox Capital Mgt LLC

Cox Capital Mgt LLC reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,283 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 97 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 4.4% of Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cox Capital Mgt LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. First Community Trust NA grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 21,175 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,925,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Clarus Wealth Advisors now owns 3,648 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,522,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $8,266,000 after buying an additional 1,060 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 58,599 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,703,000 after buying an additional 15,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 18.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 238,354 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $100,466,000 after buying an additional 36,889 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $404.00 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $424.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $423.08. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.