MBA Advisors LLC Has $3.61 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MBA Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,603 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.0% of MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after buying an additional 20,553,188 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after buying an additional 14,652,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 348.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $894,426,000 after buying an additional 9,324,182 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $431.03.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $411.84 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $275.37 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $415.48 and a 200-day moving average of $384.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

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.