Canal Insurance CO Cuts Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Canal Insurance CO lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 6.5% of Canal Insurance CO’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Canal Insurance CO’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,000. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 647.8% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family CFO Inc grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $414.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $386.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $434.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.