Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Wealthfront Advisers LLC

Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 844,366 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,748 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.9% of Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $408,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 13,132 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares during the period. Certuity LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 55,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,918,000 after purchasing an additional 2,761 shares during the period. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,465,000. Rogco LP lifted its position in Microsoft by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 10,847 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,246,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,757,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Microsoft to a “buy” rating and set a $485.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. Thirty-nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.88.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $418.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $399.71 and a 200-day moving average of $436.24. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $356.28 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.91, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.44 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total transaction of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a large new Microsoft stake, signaling strong confidence in MSFT’s long-term AI and cloud growth prospects. Billionaire Bill Ackman Just Made a Massive Bet on Microsoft. Here’s Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to argue Microsoft remains a strong long-term compounder, with some saying the stock looks cheaper than it has in years on a cash-flow basis. Is Microsoft Stock a Steal Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say Microsoft’s move away from an overly dependent OpenAI relationship could be beneficial over time because customers increasingly want access to multiple AI models rather than one exclusive partner. Why Microsoft’s Split With OpenAI May Be Great for the Stock in the Long Run

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).