Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,245 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 1,507 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 6.4% of Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,749,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $66,852,000 after buying an additional 20,553,188 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Microsoft by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,638,815,000 after buying an additional 14,652,150 shares during the period. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 348.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $894,426,000 after buying an additional 9,324,182 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average is $415.29 and its 200 day moving average is $384.29. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

About Microsoft

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.