Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 708,591 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,782 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.5% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $298,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $435.28 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $384.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $411.07. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

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.