Sowell Financial Services LLC Acquires 15,466 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,152 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 15,466 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 3.5% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $65,818,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management boosted 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 during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.16.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

MSFT stock opened at $453.13 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $393.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $412.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.48, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.