SOL Capital Management CO Grows Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

SOL Capital Management CO raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 27,791 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.4% of SOL Capital Management CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,451,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Garrison Bradford & Associates Inc. now owns 16,014 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,022,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,728 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,026,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 54,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,494,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP boosted its position in Microsoft by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 12,415 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,669,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Axim Planning & Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Axim Planning & Wealth now owns 2,769 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,041,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.66 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $303.40 and a twelve month high of $430.82. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $413.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $389.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Microsoft 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.