Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Strategic Financial Partners Ltd.

Strategic Financial Partners Ltd. raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,505 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 792 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.0% of Strategic Financial Partners Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Strategic Financial Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth 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 raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $454.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $401.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $413.59. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. 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 company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

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.