Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,938 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,520 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.2% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock valued at $12,160,356 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $8.82 on Friday, hitting $406.66. The company had a trading volume of 17,446,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,613,484. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $413.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $390.05.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

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.