May Barnhard Investments LLC Acquires New Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

May Barnhard Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,171 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,337,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $3,912,000. LBP AM SA increased its position in Microsoft by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 1,366,608 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $576,025,000 after purchasing an additional 135,328 shares in the last quarter. Maridea Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 21,171 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,923,000 after acquiring an additional 942 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,321,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.30.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $458.17 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a PEG 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $398.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,243 shares of company stock valued at $48,619,618 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.