Advance Capital Management Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Advance Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,614 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 206 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.3% of Advance Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Advance Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Innova Wealth Partners boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sicart Associates LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reissued 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. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $465.83.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

Microsoft stock opened at $446.34 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $450.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $406.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. 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.