Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Trims Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 195,067 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,372 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.0% of Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $73,226,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $1.84 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $503.32. 16,454,184 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,657,924. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $469.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.41. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.