Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Gruss & Co. LLC's Largest Position

Gruss & Co. LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 166.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,000 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 14.4% of Gruss & Co. LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Gruss & Co. LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Partners LTD. now owns 22,708 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,571,000 after buying an additional 1,180 shares during the period. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 486,007 shares of the software giant's stock worth $204,852,000 after acquiring an additional 31,952 shares in the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. raised its position in Microsoft by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 155,416 shares of the software giant's stock worth $65,508,000 after acquiring an additional 19,427 shares during the period. Alesco Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC now owns 12,135 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,115,000 after purchasing an additional 1,354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Group Foundation grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 1,231,880 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $519,237,000 after purchasing an additional 20,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $438.00 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $388.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.61. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. 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 prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Five 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 company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Microsoft 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.

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