Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Cuts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI reduced its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 136,664 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,884 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 3.9% of Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $57,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant's stock worth $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant's stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,625,201,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $7.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $406.32. 29,640,094 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,152,042. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $414.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $388.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $295.25 and a 1 year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $452.61.

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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