Slagle Financial LLC Increases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Slagle Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,397 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,250 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.4% of Slagle Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Slagle Financial LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $120,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $3.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $471.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,065,047 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,437,772. The stock's 50-day moving average is $415.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $473.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now 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 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.