Welch & Forbes LLC Has $381.73 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 905,642 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 3,889 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.9% of Welch & Forbes LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $381,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

MSFT traded up $3.80 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $452.94. The company had a trading volume of 19,864,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,486,259. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $391.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

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.