Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Purchases 599 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,730 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 599 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.9% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during 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 increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during 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. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $0.12 on Tuesday, hitting $449.14. The company had a trading volume of 22,927,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,492,622. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $390.16 and a 200-day moving average of $411.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.