Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Increases Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 175,742 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,153 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $74,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $480.24 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. The company's fifty day moving average price is $436.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.16. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $481.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. 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.

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