Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Level Four Advisory Services LLC's 4th Largest Position

Level Four Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 141,959 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,851 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.4% of Level Four Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Level Four Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $59,836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 directly 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

MSFT traded up $3.81 on Thursday, hitting $467.68. The company had a trading volume of 20,083,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,471,689. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.95. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $469.58.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.