CMC Financial Group Reduces Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

CMC Financial Group reduced its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 29.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,376 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,442 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.8% of CMC Financial Group’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. CMC Financial Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,312,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after purchasing an additional 196,338 shares in the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,921,000 after purchasing an additional 512 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 15th. Finally, Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $425.52.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $424.59 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $379.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. 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 company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.