Meritage Portfolio Management Has $67.97 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,058 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 4,068 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.5% of Meritage Portfolio Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $67,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 203,428 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,365,000 after purchasing an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Clark Asset Management LLC now owns 10,623 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,988,000 after buying an additional 978 shares during the last quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Able Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,350 shares of the software giant's stock worth $882,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Smart Money Group LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 22.0% in the 1st quarter. Smart Money Group LLC now owns 5,434 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,040,000 after purchasing an additional 981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 38,154 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,323,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $517.10 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $503.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $441.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,350 shares of company stock valued at $14,162,567. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial set a $675.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $612.54.

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.

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