BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

BlueStem Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,796 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,789,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $433.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $387.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.42.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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