HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 192,875 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 6,511 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.4% of HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $79,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $2.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $470.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,271,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,523,496. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $473.34. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $417.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $416.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.