Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 65.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,945 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,955 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.5% of Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,084,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in Microsoft by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 70,832 shares of the software giant's stock worth $29,856,000 after acquiring an additional 8,135 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 739,983 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $311,907,000 after purchasing an additional 15,660 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 33,087 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $13,938,000 after purchasing an additional 3,217 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.0% in the 4th quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 6,337,902 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,671,426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triple Frond Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Triple Frond Partners LLC now owns 278,458 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $117,370,000 after purchasing an additional 26,314 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $0.98 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $462.95. The company had a trading volume of 7,888,285 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,432,333. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company's 50 day moving average price is $410.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $415.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G 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 data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 132,743 shares of company stock worth $58,835,683 over the last ninety days. Company 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.