Hughes Financial Services LLC Acquires New Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,868 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $787,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $458.17 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $398.43 and a 200 day moving average of $413.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given 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 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. Wedbush lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s 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 owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,243 shares of company stock worth $48,619,618. 0.03% of the stock is currently 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.