Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Cadence Bank's 4th Largest Position

Cadence Bank increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 135,200 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 6,584 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.9% of Cadence Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cadence Bank's holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings 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. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

Microsoft stock opened at $474.96 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $480.42. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $428.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $418.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.