Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Purchases 54,868 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 71.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,808 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $55,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

MSFT traded up $3.81 during trading on Thursday, reaching $467.68. The company had a trading volume of 20,094,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,489,870. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $413.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.95. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $469.58. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.