Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Boosted by Aviso Financial Inc.

Aviso Financial Inc. increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 25.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,378 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 36,881 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.8% of Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Aviso Financial Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $76,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd 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 worth $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $860,913,000 after buying an additional 2,037,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $512.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,243 shares of company stock valued at $48,619,618. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $5.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $452.57. The stock had a trading volume of 19,196,249 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,550,364. The business's fifty day moving average price is $398.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $413.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week 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.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued 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 payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.