Natural Investments LLC Purchases Shares of 50,589 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 50,589 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $21,323,000. Microsoft accounts for 5.8% of Natural Investments LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during 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 last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.30.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $4.60 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $458.87. 21,313,890 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,562,400. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $395.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $412.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.