Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 1,015 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,015 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $428,000. Microsoft accounts for about 0.9% of Bestgate Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company'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 value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5%

MSFT stock traded down $2.19 on Wednesday, hitting $458.50. 7,927,875 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,532,320. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $405.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $414.29. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. 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.