Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Vertex Planning Partners LLC

Vertex Planning Partners LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,501 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $120,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $2.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $470.38. The company had a trading volume of 15,271,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,491,836. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $417.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $416.68. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $473.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research 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, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.13.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 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.