Investors Research Corp Acquires 36 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Investors Research Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,218 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 36 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.2% of Investors Research Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Investors Research Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,571,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 10,293 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,339,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 326,011 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $137,414,000 after purchasing an additional 25,572 shares in the last quarter. Altiora Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Altiora Financial Group LLC now owns 7,190 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,031,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 31,346 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $13,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $2,151,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.16.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $454.27 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $395.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.61. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.