First National Advisers LLC Acquires 1,853 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First National Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 84,400 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,853 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.8% of First National Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. First National Advisers LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,575,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position 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 worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during 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 grew its position in Microsoft by 4.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position 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 worth $860,913,000 after purchasing an additional 2,037,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0%

Microsoft stock opened at $450.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $402.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.88.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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