Bay Capital Advisors LLC Takes $1.66 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bay Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 3,946 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,663,000. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Bay Capital Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third 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 valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after buying an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after buying an additional 406,940 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction 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 $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of MSFT traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $462.95. 7,888,285 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,432,333. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $410.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.