4,516 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Alliance Wealth Management Group

Alliance Wealth Management Group acquired a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 4,516 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,698,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.7% during the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $411.84 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $384.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.03.

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.