Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's 7th Largest Position

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,509 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Mizuho raised 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. Piper Sandler reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

Microsoft stock opened at $433.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $386.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $411.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.

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