Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Stock Position Increased by Advisory Services Network LLC

Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 279,855 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,071 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 2.1% of Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Advisory Services Network LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $144,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first 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. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.1%

Microsoft stock opened at $399.41 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 1.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $424.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $474.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.86 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $81.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.28 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.34% and a net margin of 39.04%.The firm’s revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 22.76%.

Microsoft News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $586.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “hold” rating and set a $392.00 price target (down from $540.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, February 5th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $590.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $591.95.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John W. Stanton acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at $33,339,651.75. This trade represents a 6.34% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

(Free Report)

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).

See Also

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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