Dorato Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,061 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,406,000. Microsoft accounts for about 1.1% of Dorato Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,973 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,078,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1,922.0% in the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 258,798 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $125,160,000 after purchasing an additional 245,999 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. now owns 4,848 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,214,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 2,371 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, SWS Partners increased its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. SWS Partners now owns 2,650 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,282,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Stock Up 2.3%
MSFT opened at $393.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $390.96 and a 200-day moving average of $455.67. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.11. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $355.67 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.39.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The software giant reported $4.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.86 by $0.28. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.04% and a return on equity of 32.34%. The business had revenue of $81.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Microsoft news, Director John W. Stanton purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $397.35 per share, for a total transaction of $1,986,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 83,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $33,339,651.75. This represents a 6.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $409.52, for a total value of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 137,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $56,486,322.16. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Microsoft from $625.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $575.00 to $550.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $580.87.
View Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Microsoft News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:
Microsoft Company Profile
Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.
Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).
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