Guardian Financial Partners LLC Buys 344 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Guardian Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 10.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,695 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.9% of Guardian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Guardian Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BCK Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the second quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the third quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total value of $874,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,675,916.64. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,070,340. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $399.73 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.18, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $422.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $423.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.