Delta Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 48,274 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Delta Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 48,274 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $20,347,000. Microsoft accounts for about 4.8% of Delta Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 43,900.4% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant's stock worth $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSFT traded up $1.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $395.26. The company had a trading volume of 34,165,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,187,089. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. 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 price of $384.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.02.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.20 by $0.26. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho decreased their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $470.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 target price (down from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.89.

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.