New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 437.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 134,786 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 109,727 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 2.3% of New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $56,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $462.97 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $411.89 and its 200 day moving average is $415.62. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

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. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.