Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Flagstone Financial Management

Flagstone Financial Management lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,788 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Flagstone Financial Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Flagstone Financial Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Capasso Planning Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capasso Planning Partners LLC now owns 5,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,050,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,323,000. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 138,088 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $51,927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Vivid Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,406,000. Finally, Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 3,048,699 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,145,123,000 after buying an additional 67,992 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $406.66 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $413.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $390.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.