Howe & Rusling Inc. Has $33.57 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 79,642 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,232 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.9% of Howe & Rusling Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Howe & Rusling Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $33,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,908,000 after buying an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RBO & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% during the third quarter. RBO & Co. LLC now owns 9,826 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,228,000 after buying an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% 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 Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $0.90 on Wednesday, hitting $463.87. The company had a trading volume of 14,135,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,449,429. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $411.89 and a 200-day moving average of $415.62. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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