Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 3,139 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 186,292 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.3% of Ballentine Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $78,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $45,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total value of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $396.89 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $381.00 and a 1 year high of $468.35. 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 50-day moving average of $417.14 and a 200 day moving average of $422.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Microsoft

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.