Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Purchases 14,426 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,610 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 14,426 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.4% of Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.1%

MSFT traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $438.73. The company had a trading volume of 15,313,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,454,441. 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 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $389.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.54. The company has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.32, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were 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 owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.