Maren Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Maren Capital LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,434 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 0.1% of Maren Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Maren Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,026,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $478.87 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $425.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $418.26. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $480.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.