Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 38.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,375 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,226 shares during the quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,645,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $679,928,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in Microsoft by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after buying an additional 1,796,956 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average of $413.68 and a 200 day moving average of $390.05. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $303.40 and a 12 month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

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.