Rebalance LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Rebalance LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,282 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 578 shares during the period. Rebalance LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $509.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% 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. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $454.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 23,797,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,538,550. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $395.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $412.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.