Partners in Financial Planning Acquires Shares of 2,219 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Partners in Financial Planning acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,219 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 848,018 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $357,440,000 after buying an additional 74,245 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,687 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,769,000 after purchasing an additional 3,383 shares during the last quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.4% during the fourth quarter. Prevail Innovative Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares during the last quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 78.9% during the fourth quarter. Bullseye Investment Management LLC now owns 16,062 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,723,000 after purchasing an additional 7,083 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inkwell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,086,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $513.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of MSFT traded up $2.37 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $472.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,447,494 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,503,282. The business has a fifty day moving average of $419.01 and a 200 day moving average of $417.09. The company has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 $473.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 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, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend 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.