Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 368,878 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 62,854 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.1% of Miracle Mile Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $155,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock worth $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.3% in the third quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $7.88 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $408.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 27,440,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,515,041. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $425.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.79. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.