Heritage Investment Group Inc. Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Heritage Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,968 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.3% of Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Heritage Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sicart Associates LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marmo Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Marmo Financial Group LLC now owns 987 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $371,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Macquarie boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $454.70.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $429.04 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $432.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $415.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $397.72.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.