Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Boosted by NewSquare Capital LLC

NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,294 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,589 shares during the quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,868,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $0.12 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $449.14. 22,927,936 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,468,471. The company 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The business's 50 day moving average price is $390.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.71.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.