US Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 18,775 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 18,775 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $7,060,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 7.0% of US Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sicart Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Finally, Marmo Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Marmo Financial Group LLC now owns 987 shares of the software giant's stock worth $371,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $457.91.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $7.94 on Wednesday, reaching $424.01. 16,979,072 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,322,625. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $433.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $416.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $401.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 47,521 shares of company stock valued at $19,746,476. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.