Kiker Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,903 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $802,000.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after purchasing an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Down 0.7%
NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.33 on Wednesday, hitting $457.36. 16,984,314 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,590,918. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $405.09 and a 200 day moving average of $414.29. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted 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. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four 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, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.
Read Our Latest Report on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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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