Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 305,263 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,973 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.1% of Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $114,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $83,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $415.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.29. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $275.37 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lifted their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $432.13.

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.