Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by BIP Wealth LLC

BIP Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,540 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. BIP Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,964,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 160.7% in the 4th quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley boosted 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, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given 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 price target of $454.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $430.16 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $433.60. The company has a 50-day moving average of $416.36 and a 200-day moving average of $398.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Microsoft 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.