Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Providence Capital Advisors LLC

Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 44,411 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 6,445 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.8% of Providence Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Providence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,719,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

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Shares of MSFT opened at $462.97 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $411.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $415.62. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Check Out Our Latest Report on MSFT

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.

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