Alley Investment Management Company LLC Acquires 1,023 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,496 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 3.3% of Alley Investment Management Company LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Alley Investment Management Company LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,921,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.56 on Friday, hitting $438.73. 15,313,766 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,454,441. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $389.19 and a 200 day moving average of $411.63. The firm has a market capitalization 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.