Planning Center Inc. Acquires 145 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Planning Center Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,383 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 0.4% of Planning Center Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Planning Center Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 112,158.6% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 150,187,424 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,017,948,000 after buying an additional 150,053,637 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $20,700,525,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 35,465.9% during the first quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 20,611,140 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $66,852,000 after acquiring an additional 20,553,188 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 119,417,954 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,638,815,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 348.6% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 11,998,927 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $894,426,000 after acquiring an additional 9,324,182 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $399.12 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $275.37 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The business’s 50 day moving average is $414.86 and its 200 day moving average is $385.79.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.