Cottage Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,505 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Cottage Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after acquiring an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares during the period. Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 29,789.2% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 16,570,893 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,477,000 after purchasing an additional 16,515,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after buying an additional 14,652,150 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $405.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $440.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $420.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.93.
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total transaction of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Microsoft Trading Up 3.1 %
Shares of MSFT opened at $340.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.91. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $213.43 and a fifty-two week high of $366.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $326.19 and a 200 day moving average of $324.09.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $56.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.35 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This is a positive change from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.96%.
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.
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