Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Buys 98,448 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,522,943 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 98,448 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.2% of Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,484,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th 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 period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $458.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $396.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $412.71. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.30.

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.