Petra Financial Advisors Inc. Has $2.03 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Petra Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,407 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Petra Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after purchasing an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 277.8% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150,160 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,456,190 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $679,928,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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 transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $409.34 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $306.09 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $413.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $392.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.