PFG Private Wealth Management LLC Purchases 4,077 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

PFG Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1,820.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,301 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 4,077 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.1% of PFG Private Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. PFG Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Bensler LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 91,172 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $34,284,000 after purchasing an additional 4,240 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. PFW Advisors LLC now owns 10,815 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,067,000 after purchasing an additional 503 shares in the last quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,360 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,024,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Aspire Wealth Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Aspire Wealth Management Corp now owns 3,095 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,164,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 48,030 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Macquarie upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $404.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $415.29 and a 200-day moving average of $384.29. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.