Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Catalina Capital Group LLC

Catalina Capital Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 62.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,067 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 19,980 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.0% of Catalina Capital Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Catalina Capital Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fosun International Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Microsoft stock opened at $513.71 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $518.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's fifty day moving average is $483.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $431.47.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Securities increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $551.21.

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.