Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Meyer Handelman Co.’s Largest Position

Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 479,434 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.3% of Meyer Handelman Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $179,975,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 134,422 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $50,461,000 after buying an additional 2,066 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 78,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,545,000 after buying an additional 5,186 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co raised its position in Microsoft by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Waycross Investment Management Co now owns 7,280 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,733,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Somerset Trust Co grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 33,991 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares during the period. Finally, BTC Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 109,670 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $41,171,000 after purchasing an additional 4,925 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.14.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $497.45 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $498.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $446.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $421.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.