Cerity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 277.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,150,160 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 4.5% of Cerity Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,633,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $409.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $413.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $392.05. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $306.09 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded 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. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

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.