Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Avantax Planning Partners Inc.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,714 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.30.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $454.27. The company had a trading volume of 23,797,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,563,395. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $395.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $412.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

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.