OneAscent Financial Services LLC Acquires 9,457 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 59.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,232 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,457 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.9% of OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Stansberry Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.0% in the third quarter. Stansberry Asset Management LLC now owns 45,695 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,663,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $513.59.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $470.38 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $417.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $416.68. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $473.34. The stock has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.