Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Miracle Mile Advisors LLC

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 305,263 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,973 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.1% of Miracle Mile Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, 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.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after buying an additional 20,553,188 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Microsoft by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after buying an additional 14,652,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 348.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $894,426,000 after buying an additional 9,324,182 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $415.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $384.29. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Macquarie lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $432.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.