Southern Capital Advisors LLC Has $2.91 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Southern Capital Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,728 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.1% of Southern Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. Southern Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at approximately $601,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $415.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $384.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.