Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC Acquires 296 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,360 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 3.8% of Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after purchasing an additional 196,338 shares during the last quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% in the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 8.2% during the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8 %

MSFT stock opened at $404.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $415.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $384.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.