DF Dent & Co. Inc. Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 354,760 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.9% of DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $149,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $2,526,000. Spahn Wealth & Retirement LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,686,000. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 51,019 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $21,542,000 after purchasing an additional 11,849 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 258,985 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $109,162,000 after purchasing an additional 31,270 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $470.38 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $417.20 and a 200 day moving average of $416.68. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $473.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 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 last year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.59.

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.