Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Lowers Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,780 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,495 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.0% of Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $87,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,380,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 trade represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MSFT

Microsoft Stock Performance

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NASDAQ MSFT opened at $438.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $389.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.63. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. 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%.

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.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

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