Milestone Asset Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 484.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,178 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 20,039 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.9% of Milestone Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,172,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acute Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Acute Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,142 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% in the third quarter. Financial Management Network Inc. now owns 14,475 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,617,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,369,562,000 after acquiring an additional 88,583 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA increased its position in Microsoft by 3.2% in the third quarter. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA now owns 38,735 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,231,000 after buying an additional 1,199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 39,732 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,546,000 after purchasing an additional 4,110 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Macquarie raised their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $454.70.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

MSFT stock traded up $1.48 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $430.52. 17,828,532 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,386,223. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The business's 50 day moving average price is $415.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $397.72. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $432.97.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company's revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.

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