Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Acquires 6,806 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,404 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 6,806 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,981,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth 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. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.86 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $449.27. The company had a trading volume of 6,856,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,454,197. 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 fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $393.86 and its 200 day moving average is $412.42. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted 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, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $509.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.