Hilton Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 82,983 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 7,736 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.0% of Hilton Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Hilton Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during 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 during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake 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 period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.30.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT opened at $458.17 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $398.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $413.04. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35.
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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was 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 owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 110,243 shares of company stock valued at $48,619,618 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
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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