Cincinnati Financial Corp Has $207.02 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cincinnati Financial Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 23.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 491,150 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 151,100 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.5% of Cincinnati Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Cincinnati Financial Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $207,020,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $3.42 on Friday, hitting $471.10. 8,065,047 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,437,772. The business has a 50-day moving average of $415.43 and a 200 day moving average of $416.31. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $473.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.