Seizert Capital Partners LLC Sells 448 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Seizert Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,087 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 448 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,682,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $438.73 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $389.19 and a 200 day moving average of $411.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $507.77.

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.