South Street Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

South Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,860 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.1% of South Street Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares during the period. Finally, United Bank raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,908,000 after acquiring an additional 730 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $450.18 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $402.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $413.85. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, 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 value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.13.

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.