Horizon Investments LLC Has $16.22 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 24.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,478 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 7,562 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,446 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $120,737,000 after buying an additional 3,389 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,373,027 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,421,424,000 after acquiring an additional 114,892 shares during the last quarter. South Street Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. South Street Advisors LLC now owns 78,860 shares of the software giant's stock worth $33,240,000 after acquiring an additional 1,374 shares during the last quarter. Custos Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.1% during the fourth quarter. Custos Family Office LLC now owns 1,448 shares of the software giant's stock worth $610,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Wealth Development LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,255,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $10.51 on Tuesday, hitting $460.69. 20,932,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,585,267. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.09, 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. The business's fifty day moving average is $403.62 and its 200 day moving average is $414.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio 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.