Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lowered by Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lowered its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,748 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 558 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 51,852 shares in the company, valued at $22,675,916.64. This trade represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $388.49 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $419.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.59. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

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.