Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s 2nd Largest Position

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI trimmed its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 177,865 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 287 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 7.4% of LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $519.43.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

Microsoft stock opened at $492.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $444.31 and a 200-day moving average of $421.40. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $494.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.