Paragon Capital Management Ltd Decreases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 69,299 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,785 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.2% of Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Security Advisor Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after buying an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $452.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $456.17. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $422.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $408.83.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. New Street Research initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

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.