Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Increased by Walker Asset Management LLC

Walker Asset Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,194 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 183 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.2% of Walker Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Walker Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $11,240,000. Element Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 264.9% in the second quarter. Element Capital Management LLC now owns 48,321 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $21,597,000 after acquiring an additional 35,077 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV raised its holdings in Microsoft by 14.6% during the second quarter. Ogorek Anthony Joseph NY ADV now owns 5,559 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,484,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 7,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,070,340 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.2 %

Microsoft stock opened at $397.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $420.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $422.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.97, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

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.