Cascade Wealth Advisors Inc Has $1.67 Million Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Cascade Wealth Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,950 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of Cascade Wealth Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Cascade Wealth Advisors Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $507.77.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $438.00 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $388.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.61.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.