Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 90,318 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,337 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.1% of Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $38,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $11,898,314,000 after acquiring an additional 324,052 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $509.16.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $454.27. 23,797,504 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,538,550. The firm's 50 day moving average is $395.33 and its 200-day moving average is $412.61. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 94,243 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,738 in the last quarter. 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.