Marathon Asset Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 232,793 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,570 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.7% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Marathon Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.4% in the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 59,508 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $22,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,097 shares during the last quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 68.2% in the 1st quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 6,477 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,431,000 after buying an additional 2,626 shares during the period. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 1,437 shares of the software giant's stock worth $539,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,149 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,312,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heirloom Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Heirloom Wealth Management now owns 53,554 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was 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 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Performance
MSFT opened at $522.04 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $496.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $438.17. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
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