Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Boosted by GenWealth Group Inc.

GenWealth Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,061 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. GenWealth Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.6% during the 4th quarter. ShankerValleau Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,052 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 7,450 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,802,000 after purchasing an additional 1,329 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $679,928,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 25.0% in the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 8,352 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,197,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $9,176,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $420.72 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.89. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $410.28 and its 200-day moving average is $373.98.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.63 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Macquarie raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Argus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $390.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $465.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $423.34.

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.