Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 449,028 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,912 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.7% of Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $189,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,789,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $454.27. 23,797,504 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,563,395. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $395.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $412.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased 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. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $510.30.

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.