15,071 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by M Holdings Securities Inc.

M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 15,071 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $6,352,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.2% of M Holdings Securities Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $458.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,758,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,610,607. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day moving average of $407.73 and a 200 day moving average of $414.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.