Meyer Handelman Co. Has $202.05 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Meyer Handelman Co. lessened its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 479,355 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,153 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 7.0% of Meyer Handelman Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $202,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC now owns 8,276 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,488,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $5,778,000. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. S.E.E.D. Planning Group LLC now owns 26,819 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347 shares in the last quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 127,753 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $53,848,000 after buying an additional 1,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Community Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 21,175 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,925,000 after buying an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

MSFT opened at $404.00 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a 50 day moving average of $424.25 and a 200 day moving average of $423.08.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

About Microsoft

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.