Synergy Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Synergy Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,090 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 443 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.5% of Synergy Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Synergy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $430.52.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $413.64 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $415.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $383.26.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.32 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.