Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Lifted by Enterprise Financial Services Corp

Enterprise Financial Services Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,284 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,234 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 6.2% of Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Raymond James increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.16.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $453.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $393.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.42. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate 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.