Reliant Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Reliant Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,613 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 829 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.7% of Reliant Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Reliant Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

MSFT stock traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $497.72. The company had a trading volume of 13,967,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,684,200. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $500.76. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $463.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $423.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.46, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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. 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 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $524.71.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

About Microsoft

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.