Tidemark LLC Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Tidemark LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 41.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,950 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the quarter. Tidemark LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $4.68 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $450.18. 16,874,720 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,548,957. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $402.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $413.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

About Microsoft

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.