Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 24.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,063 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 9,806 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 4.1% of Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the third quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,941,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $10.53 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $449.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,794,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,459,838. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $389.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $411.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

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.