Davis R M Inc. Grows Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Davis R M Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 434,559 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,892 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.6% of Davis R M Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Davis R M Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $183,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th 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 raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,106,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $454.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,797,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,563,395. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $395.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $412.48. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.30.

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.