Pathway Financial Advisers LLC Acquires Shares of 9,195 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 9,195 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,869,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.4% of Pathway Financial Advisers LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

MSFT stock opened at $416.79 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $435.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

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.