Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Purchases New Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,024 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,641,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.7% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $430.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.4 %

Microsoft stock opened at $421.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.13 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $415.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $381.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.