Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,087 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.8% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,938,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth 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 period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth 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 period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm'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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.98 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $462.95. 7,888,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,432,333. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50-day moving average price is $410.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.