Park Place Capital Corp Cuts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Park Place Capital Corp trimmed its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,622 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 3,151 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.9% of Park Place Capital Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $87,000. Family CFO Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% during the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 647.8% during the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 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 52-week low of $295.25 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $414.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $388.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 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. 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 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

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.