Magnetic behavior of a few pulsed laser deposited soft ferromagnetic thin films of Ni-Fe-Mo alloys of different thickness on sapphire single crystals is interpreted on the basis of their structural characteristics. Highly textured thin films have high void density due to island-like growth. X-ray reflectivity (XRR) of the thin films indicate that instead of a uniform density there are effectively three layers with density gradient across the thickness, which is further supported by atomic force microscopy and cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy. Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and energy dispersive spectrum measurements reveal that the composition in the films is not too far from that of the bulk target with a trend of enhanced Fe yield in the films. The structural disorder strongly affected the magnetic property of the films resulting in much higher values of the Curie temperature T-C and coercive field H-C than those of the bulk targets. Bifurcations of low-field zero-field-cooled and field-cooled magnetization reflect the disorder-induced anisotropy in the thin films. The spin wave stiffness constants D are higher than their bulk counterparts which are supportive of the enhanced Fe yield in the films. The saturation magnetization, M calculated from measurements in field transverse to the films strongly supports the thickness found from XRR. Finally, even the 10 nm thin films have sizable M and H-C and T-C > 300 K, making them good candidates for magnetic applications. Overall, the magnetic behavior and the structural characteristics have reasonably complemented each other. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.