Scratch Capital LLC Has $486,000 Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Scratch Capital LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 26.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,295 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 466 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.5% of Scratch Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Scratch Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $486,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fosun International Ltd raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $511.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $476.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $427.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $513.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $538.04.

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.