GWN Securities Inc. Takes $10.30 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GWN Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 23,261 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $10,300,000. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of GWN Securities Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in 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 last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in 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 last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded down $4.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $450.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,874,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,548,957. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $402.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $413.88. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

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.