Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Cubic Asset Management LLC

Cubic Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,397 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 921 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.8% of Cubic Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Cubic Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $22,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Family CFO Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. increased its position 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 buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $402.25 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $414.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $389.01. The company has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.