Financial Counselors Inc. Has $298.15 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 707,351 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,027 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.4% of Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $298,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $3.81 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $467.68. The stock had a trading volume of 20,094,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,489,870. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $469.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $413.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $415.95.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.