Coston McIsaac & Partners Purchases 172 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Coston McIsaac & Partners increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,781 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.5% of Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Coston McIsaac & Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $399.04 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $292.73 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $414.44 and its 200 day moving average is $387.17.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Macquarie boosted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

Microsoft Company 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.