Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. Raises Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 5.0% in Q1, now holding 13,032 shares valued at approximately $4.89 million, making it the 12th largest position in its portfolio.
• Analyst ratings for Microsoft remain strong, with a significant number affirming "buy" ratings and price targets ranging from $550 to $600. The stock's average rating is "Moderate Buy" with a target price of $555.86.
• Microsoft recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $3.46 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, representing an annual yield of 0.65%.

Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,032 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 626 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.6% of Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital increased their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $9.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $524.11. The company had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,441,598. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $488.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $434.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 33.49%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft 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.