Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Raised by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,979,211 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,349 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.7% of Cetera Investment Advisers’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $834,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during 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 during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. 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 worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $479.14 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $430.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $418.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $480.69.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $565.00 price objective (up from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft 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.