Terra Alpha Investments LLC Takes $5.10 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Terra Alpha Investments LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 12,098 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $5,099,000. Microsoft comprises about 5.2% of Terra Alpha Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $4.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $450.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,874,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,587,887. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $402.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $413.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

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.