Investments & Financial Planning LLC Acquires Shares of 585 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Investments & Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 585 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.52.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $421.90 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s fifty day moving average is $415.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $382.07. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $275.37 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.32 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

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.