StrategIQ Financial Group LLC Has $6.78 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

StrategIQ Financial Group LLC lessened its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,028 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. StrategIQ Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,779,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 11,924 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,484,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 1,146,098 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $430,979,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 72,496 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,261,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the period. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 23,975 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,016,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Better Money Decisions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day moving average of $414.60 and a 200-day moving average of $386.93. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced 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. 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 earned $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders 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 dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

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.