Strong Tower Advisory Services Grows Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,076 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.0% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares in the last quarter. HS Management Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 18.0% in the third quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 298,208 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $94,159,000 after acquiring an additional 45,560 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% in the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.26.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $427.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $414.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $380.86. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $275.37 and a twelve month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.