Kovack Advisors Inc. Purchases 2,441 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,441 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.5% of Kovack Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $435.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $384.93 and a 200-day moving average of $411.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.