Dogwood Wealth Management LLC Purchases 640 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,514 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.0% of Dogwood Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $477.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $483.46. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50-day moving average is $437.84 and its 200-day moving average is $420.40.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $565.00 price target (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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