Mayfair Advisory Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Mayfair Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of Mayfair Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% in the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $411.84 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $415.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $384.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company 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.