Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. Invests $17 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 40,335 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $17,001,000. Microsoft accounts for about 0.3% of Cantor Fitzgerald L. P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Microsoft stock opened at $479.14 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $480.69. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $430.54 and a 200-day moving average of $418.94. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. The business 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%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $565.00 target price (up from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

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.

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