Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Burkett Financial Services LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 106.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,700 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,459 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of Burkett Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Burkett Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $446.34 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $418.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $405.81. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $450.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

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 company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.83.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Company 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.