Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,180 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,218 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.0% of Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 46,981 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,352 shares during the last quarter. Tamar Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Tamar Securities LLC now owns 88,231 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $37,189,000 after buying an additional 5,190 shares during the last quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 9,486 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,998,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 180,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,636,000 after buying an additional 11,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Next Level Private LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 12,858 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,419,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $470.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.59.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3 %

MSFT stock opened at $386.84 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $409.38 and its 200 day moving average is $419.85. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.92. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $376.91 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

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.