Alberta Investment Management Corp Buys 114,179 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alberta Investment Management Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 98.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,035 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 114,179 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.6% of Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $96,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $3.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $390.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,038,393 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,247,445. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $385.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $411.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $435.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush reduced their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $450.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $493.13.

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.