Heck Capital Advisors LLC Invests $5.63 Million in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 13,347 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $5,626,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $4.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $490.11. 22,297,193 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,532,137. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $439.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $420.58. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $491.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st 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 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.