Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Cut by Meridian Financial Partners LLC

Meridian Financial Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,587 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Meridian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $404.00 on Tuesday. 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 P/E ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $424.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.