Pollock Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pollock Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,248 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,000. Microsoft accounts for 1.1% of Pollock Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price (up from $500.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

MSFT stock opened at $454.86 on Friday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $401.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.59. The stock 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 quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% 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 quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.