Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. Has $8.23 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Brooks Moore & Associates Inc. decreased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,536 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 4.9% of Brooks Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Brooks Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of MSFT opened at $479.14 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 fifty day moving average of $430.54 and a 200-day moving average of $418.94.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, 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 transaction 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 $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.