Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 966,487 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 19,203 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 8.3% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $406,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $449.78 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $419.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $406.93. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $450.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.89. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

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.