Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Sells 663 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 13,440 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 663 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.1% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,888 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% in the third quarter. Smith & Howard Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,228,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the third quarter. Stordahl Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,742 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Insight Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.8% during the third quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 14,369 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,537,000 after buying an additional 524 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Microsoft stock opened at $406.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $295.25 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $414.48 and its 200 day moving average is $388.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.