Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 600,392 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 8,889 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $253,066,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parker Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Parker Financial LLC now owns 3,293 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,388,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 10,151 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,278,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Financial Perspectives Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 33,537 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,136,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares during the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 230,035 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $96,960,000 after purchasing an additional 114,179 shares during the period. Finally, Pegasus Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 36,295 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,298,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $430.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $530.00 to $472.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. DA Davidson upgraded Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $493.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $4.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $391.85. The stock had a trading volume of 18,959,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,280,218. The company has a 50 day moving average of $385.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $411.53. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month 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 (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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 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.