Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV Has $1.92 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,095 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 0.3% of Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Planning Alternatives Ltd. ADV’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,916,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after buying an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after buying an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky grew its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bensler LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 86,932 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,449,000 after buying an additional 2,674 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was 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 owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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 Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $409.06 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $387.09. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $275.37 and a one year high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during 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 revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.