Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by MBA Advisors LLC

MBA Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,603 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.0% of MBA Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after acquiring an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after acquiring an additional 196,338 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% in the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,921,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Macquarie lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $431.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $411.84 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $415.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $275.37 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

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.