Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,829 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.0% of Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,551 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,472,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 52,571 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,769,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% in the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 9,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,602,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares during the last quarter. Avalon Capital Management increased its holdings in Microsoft by 69.5% in the 4th quarter. Avalon Capital Management now owns 29,931 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,255,000 after acquiring an additional 12,271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 2,415 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $420.00 to $455.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Macquarie boosted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $425.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.9 %

Microsoft stock opened at $424.57 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $411.26 and its 200 day moving average is $375.46.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.