Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 35.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,553 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,255 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $34,374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $397.12 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $420.68 and a 200-day moving average of $422.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.