Congress Park Capital LLC Sells 1,716 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Congress Park Capital LLC reduced its stake in Microsoft by 8.6%, owning 18,292 shares worth approximately $6.87 million, making Microsoft its 14th biggest holding.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on Microsoft, with four rating a hold and twenty-nine a buy, while the average target price is set at $555.86.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, marking a 0.65% yield and a payout ratio of 25.66%.

Congress Park Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,292 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,716 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.6% of Congress Park Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Congress Park Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 4.2%

MSFT stock traded up $21.65 during trading on Thursday, reaching $534.89. The stock had a trading volume of 22,422,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,175,734. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company's 50 day moving average is $486.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $433.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% 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. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $675.00 price objective (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $582.00 target price (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $598.61.

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.