Michael A. Dubis Financial Planning LLC Buys New Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Michael A. Dubis Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 506 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $456,000. Allstate Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3,304.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 209,697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $88,387,000 after buying an additional 203,537 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 180,685 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,159,000 after buying an additional 14,186 shares during the period. Pamplona Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,756,000. Finally, DnB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 4,656,797 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,962,840,000 after buying an additional 1,363,885 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $463.87 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year 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 $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $413.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $415.95.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s 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 owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.