Americana Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,264 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 795 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 3.5% of Americana Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $37,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $87,000. Family CFO Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% during the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 647.8% during the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $394.94 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $303.40 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $414.03 and a 200-day moving average of $389.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

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.