Tallon Kerry Patrick Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,285 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,375,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of Tallon Kerry Patrick's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Bernzott Capital Advisors acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $323,000. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 15,587 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,570,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. BFI Infinity Ltd. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $4,794,000. West Coast Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. West Coast Financial LLC now owns 52,477 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $22,119,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guardian Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Guardian Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,695 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $0.56 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $438.73. The stock had a trading volume of 15,313,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,454,441. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $389.19 and a 200 day moving average of $411.63. The firm has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue 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 Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.