Advisors Asset Management Inc. Has $120.74 Million Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 286,446 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,389 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Advisors Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $120,737,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

MSFT stock traded up $1.55 during trading on Thursday, hitting $458.91. 2,829,818 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,517,713. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $406.41 and a 200-day moving average of $414.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.