Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 215 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 35 shares during the period. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the third quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the third quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,888 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at about $504,000. RVW Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. RVW Wealth LLC now owns 6,128 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 18.7% in the third quarter. Carmel Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 2,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $803,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $295.25 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $414.48 and a 200-day moving average of $388.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.18, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 38.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

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.