Parallel Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 188,846 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,505 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.8% of Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Parallel Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $79,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

MSFT stock opened at $450.18 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $402.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $413.88. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two 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 firm has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.