Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Decreased by Leuthold Group LLC

Leuthold Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 66,783 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 48 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.1% of Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $87,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Family CFO Inc grew its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $454.70.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $430.52 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $432.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $416.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $397.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid 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 0.70%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.