ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC Acquires 241,819 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 53.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 693,056 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 241,819 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.3% of ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $292,123,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $438.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,313,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,454,441. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business's 50 day moving average is $389.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.63. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised 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. Five investment 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.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.