Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Raised by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,373,027 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 114,892 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.8% of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,421,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $10.51 on Tuesday, reaching $460.69. 20,932,633 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,585,267. The stock has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.09, 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. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $403.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $414.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

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.