Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC Invests $756,000 in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,795 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $756,000. Microsoft accounts for 0.6% of Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $458.68. The stock had a trading volume of 13,971,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,560,565. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $406.41 and a 200 day moving average of $414.59. The stock has a market cap of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio 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.