Leavell Investment Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,883 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,046 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.0% of Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after buying an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $679,928,000. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in 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 valued at $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 243.6% in the third quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,151,555 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $679,353,000 after buying an additional 1,525,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.05.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. 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 quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.4 %

MSFT stock opened at $399.04 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. 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 12 month low of $292.73 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $414.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $387.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

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.