34,941 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Acquired by Bradyco Inc.

Bradyco Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 34,941 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $16,230,000. Microsoft makes up about 11.4% of Bradyco Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,515,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,789,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,980,299,000 after buying an additional 217,509 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.0%

MSFT stock opened at $449.14 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $391.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $411.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $507.77.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.