Ares Financial Consulting LLC Acquires Shares of 3,632 Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Ares Financial Consulting LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,632 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,757,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.6% of Ares Financial Consulting LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 23,097 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,735,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square disclosed a large new Microsoft stake, signaling strong confidence in MSFT’s long-term AI and cloud growth prospects. Billionaire Bill Ackman Just Made a Massive Bet on Microsoft. Here’s Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators continue to argue Microsoft remains a strong long-term compounder, with some saying the stock looks cheaper than it has in years on a cash-flow basis. Is Microsoft Stock a Steal Right Now?
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts say Microsoft’s move away from an overly dependent OpenAI relationship could be beneficial over time because customers increasingly want access to multiple AI models rather than one exclusive partner. Why Microsoft’s Split With OpenAI May Be Great for the Stock in the Long Run

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $641.00 to $646.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $500.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft to $502.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Thirty-nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $560.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 1,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.34, for a total value of $519,111.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 46,003 shares in the company, valued at $18,922,874.02. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 12,321 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $5,045,695.92. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $418.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $356.28 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $399.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $436.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 21.67%.

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).