Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 173,763 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.5% of Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Meridian Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $73,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its position in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares during the period. Centric Wealth Management raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 16,156 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,789,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 9,250,128 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,980,299,000 after purchasing an additional 217,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $435.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $507.77.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Stock Performance
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $438.00 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $388.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.61. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. 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 released its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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