Legacy Financial Group LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Legacy Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1,181.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,596 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 7,925 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,152,647,000 after buying an additional 2,456,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $447.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $420.65 and a 200-day moving average of $407.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $452.75.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released 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. The company 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 company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect 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 given a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were 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 owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.