Liberty One Investment Management LLC Has $23.51 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 62,513 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 573 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.9% of Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Sicart Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 5,864 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,167,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Macquarie raised their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $406.66 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $303.40 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $390.88. 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 company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.