Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 204,356 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,752 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 1.6% of Signaturefd LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Signaturefd LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $86,136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Pitti Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,910 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,648,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 188,846 shares of the software giant's stock worth $79,599,000 after acquiring an additional 3,505 shares during the last quarter. Brown University bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $4,932,000. Cibc World Markets Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 2,421,485 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,020,656,000 after acquiring an additional 494,639 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SouthState Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. SouthState Corp now owns 216,415 shares of the software giant's stock worth $91,219,000 after acquiring an additional 21,569 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.
Get Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Microsoft Stock Down 1.0%
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $450.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The business's 50-day moving average is $402.37 and its 200-day moving average is $413.88. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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