Wealth Architects LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wealth Architects LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,860 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of Wealth Architects LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Wealth Architects LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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 business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0%

MSFT opened at $450.18 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $402.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $413.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share 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 given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

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.

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