Milestone Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Milestone Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,139 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.5% of Milestone Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Milestone Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sicart Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,936,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4 %

Microsoft stock opened at $409.06 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $414.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $387.09. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value 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 approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $434.05.

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.