Sfmg LLC Has $28.37 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sfmg LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,312 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.2% of Sfmg LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Sfmg LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $28,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Friday, hitting $458.77. The company had a trading volume of 34,758,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,610,607. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $407.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $414.89. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.