RKL Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

RKL Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 59,926 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of RKL Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. RKL Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 13,689,356 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,890,530,000 after acquiring an additional 49,288 shares during the period. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,749 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,334,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $3.80 on Wednesday, reaching $452.94. The stock had a trading volume of 19,864,490 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,511,825. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $391.20 and a 200-day moving average of $411.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $507.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.