Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,440 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 663 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.1% of Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,054,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,369,562,000 after buying an additional 88,583 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $406.32 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $295.25 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $414.48 and a 200-day moving average of $388.51.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 company earned $2.45 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.