Scharf Investments LLC Sells 26,035 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Scharf Investments LLC lowered its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 424,895 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 26,035 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Scharf Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $179,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BCK Partners Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the third quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $395.16 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $376.91 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $407.93 and a 200-day moving average of $419.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 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 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Microsoft 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.