Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 10,883 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 155,334 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,883 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $58,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $87,000. Family CFO Inc boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $409.06 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $414.59 and its 200-day moving average is $387.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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 net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 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 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

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.