Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Captrust Financial Advisors' 5th Largest Position

Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,123,871 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 92,940 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.5% of Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Captrust Financial Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $895,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9%

Microsoft stock opened at $479.14 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $430.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $418.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $480.69.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

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.

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