Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Key Points

• Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its Microsoft stake by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, buying 20,748 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 844,366 shares worth about $408.4 million.
• Microsoft remains widely owned by institutions, with 71.13% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors. The article also notes several smaller funds recently initiated or expanded positions.
• Analyst sentiment is still positive overall: 39 analysts rate Microsoft a Buy and seven a Hold, with an average price target of $560.88. Microsoft also beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations and announced a $0.91 quarterly dividend.

Wealthfront Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 844,366 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 20,748 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.9% of Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $408,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 287.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $50,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Raymond James Financial cut Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 24th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. China Renaissance dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Thirty-nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $560.88.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a large new Microsoft stake, signaling strong confidence in MSFT’s long-term AI and cloud growth prospects. Billionaire Bill Ackman Just Made a Massive Bet on Microsoft. Here's Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to argue Microsoft remains a strong long-term compounder, with some saying the stock looks cheaper than it has in years on a cash-flow basis. Is Microsoft Stock a Steal Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say Microsoft’s move away from an overly dependent OpenAI relationship could be beneficial over time because customers increasingly want access to multiple AI models rather than one exclusive partner. Why Microsoft's Split With OpenAI May Be Great for the Stock in the Long Run

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $418.57 on Tuesday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $399.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $436.24. The firm has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $356.28 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 21.67%.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft's product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

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