Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Parallel Advisors LLC

Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 188,846 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,505 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.8% of Parallel Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Parallel Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $79,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during 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 valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company'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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $10.51 on Tuesday, reaching $460.69. 20,934,295 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,585,433. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The business's 50 day moving average price is $405.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $414.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.09, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.