Investment Partners LTD. Purchases 1,180 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Investment Partners LTD. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,708 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,180 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.9% of Investment Partners LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Investment Partners LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

MSFT stock traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $438.73. 15,313,766 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,422,204. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.32, 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 price is $389.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $411.74. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note 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 report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.