FourThought Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 111,170 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,771 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 4.4% of FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 35,465.9% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after buying an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Microsoft by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after buying an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 98.1% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 15,218,570 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,649,717,000 after buying an additional 7,534,774 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.20% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $385.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $320.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $373.68.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In related news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Teri List sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.77, for a total transaction of $418,462.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 874 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $292,588.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $322.98 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The company’s 50-day moving average is $333.79 and its 200 day moving average is $305.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.90.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.07%.
Microsoft 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.
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