Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by RFG Advisory LLC

RFG Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 52,007 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 762 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.8% of RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Financial Security Advisor Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after acquiring an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after buying an additional 5,366 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.66 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $413.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $389.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock worth $12,160,356. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Macquarie upped their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

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.