Inspire Advisors LLC Purchases 117 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Inspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,875 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $454.27 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $395.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.48. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective 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. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.30.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.