Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Ancora Advisors LLC

Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 242,057 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,407 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.3% of Ancora Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Ancora Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $102,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 471.4% in the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 5,812,933 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,366,153,000 after purchasing an additional 4,795,536 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% 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 Down 0.8%

Microsoft stock traded down $3.91 during trading on Friday, reaching $474.96. The stock had a trading volume of 16,804,288 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,539,207. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $480.42. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $428.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $418.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Microsoft 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.