Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Buys Shares of 21,576 Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 21,576 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $9,094,000. Microsoft accounts for 4.2% of Bernard Wealth Management Corp.'s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. XY Planning Network Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $1,422,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $1,770,000. LifeWealth Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,815,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,469,000. Finally, Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $457,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $565.00 price objective (up from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, June 13th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $515.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.84 during trading on Friday, reaching $477.40. The company had a trading volume of 37,241,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,515,262. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $483.46. The business's 50 day moving average price is $437.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.