Walden Wealth Partners LLC Invests $17.75 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Walden Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 47,189 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $17,745,000. Microsoft comprises about 11.2% of Walden Wealth Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $87,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 160.7% in the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price target (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $465.83.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $448.37 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $418.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $405.31. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $450.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.