Smith Salley & Associates Acquires 7,179 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Smith Salley & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 272,160 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,179 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.6% of Smith Salley & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Smith Salley & Associates’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $102,342,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth about $87,000. Family CFO Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $402.25 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $414.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $389.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Macquarie lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.