Cohen Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,779 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cohen Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,820 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,779 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 4.4% of Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,949,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 534.5% in the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $601,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $430.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.58 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $415.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $383.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.48, 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 quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

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.