Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Boosted by Albion Financial Group UT

Albion Financial Group UT boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,088 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.3% of Albion Financial Group UT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Financial Security Advisor Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.9% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after purchasing an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $406.66 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $303.40 and a one year high of $430.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $413.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $390.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

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.