Snider Financial Group Purchases 21,583 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Snider Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 95.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,309 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 21,583 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.8% of Snider Financial Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Snider Financial Group's holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,380,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft 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 value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $0.56 on Friday, reaching $438.73. 15,313,766 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,454,441. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.32, 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $389.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.63. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

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.