Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Reduced by Scott & Selber Inc.

Scott & Selber Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,303 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,103 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.0% of Scott & Selber Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Scott & Selber Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $438.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,313,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,422,206. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $389.19 and a 200-day moving average of $411.74.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Company 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.