Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Raised by PFG Private Wealth Management LLC

PFG Private Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1,820.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,301 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,077 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.1% of PFG Private Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 112,158.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after purchasing an additional 20,553,188 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Microsoft by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 348.6% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $894,426,000 after purchasing an additional 9,324,182 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $415.29 and its 200-day moving average is $384.29. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $275.37 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 27.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

About Microsoft

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.