Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Has $325.90 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 773,198 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 33,328 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.2% of Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $325,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,789,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,980,299,000 after buying an additional 217,509 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.14 on Friday, hitting $454.27. The stock had a trading volume of 23,797,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,563,395. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year 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 stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50-day moving average is $395.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $412.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $509.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.