Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp Has $4.51 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,707 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 900 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.3% of Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Aull & Monroe Investment Management Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 2,667,188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,124,220,000 after purchasing an additional 129,449 shares during the period. Royal Harbor Partners LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Harbor Partners LLC now owns 11,873 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,004,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $7,487,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 47,404 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $19,981,000 after buying an additional 6,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 4,816 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,030,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $452.94. 19,864,490 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,486,259. 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 company's 50 day simple moving average is $391.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $411.86. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.