Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Increased by Motley Fool Asset Management LLC

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 258,985 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 31,270 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.7% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $109,162,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,908,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stansberry Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 45,695 shares of the software giant's stock worth $19,663,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $6.25 during trading on Thursday, reaching $478.87. 18,858,704 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,506,985. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $480.37. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $423.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $417.84. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Bank of America lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm'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 value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Microsoft

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.