8,621 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Sheets Smith Investment Management

Sheets Smith Investment Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,621 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,634,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.1% of Sheets Smith Investment Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

Microsoft stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $458.77. 34,758,620 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,504,528. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $409.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $415.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.94, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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