Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Raised by NEOS Investment Management LLC

NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 27.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 593,905 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 126,611 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.9% of NEOS Investment Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. NEOS Investment Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $250,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders have sold 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.90 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $463.87. The company had a trading volume of 14,135,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,449,429. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $411.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $415.62. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.