Sunbeam Capital Management LLC Takes $3.88 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sunbeam Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 9,215 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,884,000. Microsoft makes up 3.6% of Sunbeam Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, RMR Wealth Builders lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 49,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,931,000 after buying an additional 1,739 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $480.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $481.00. The business's 50-day moving average price is $436.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $420.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research 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 currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

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.

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