Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 627,060 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 7,012 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.1% of Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $264,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $459.08. 7,351,179 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,529,499. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $407.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $414.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.