Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,926 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,744 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,366 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Finally, Bensler LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $434.05.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.4 %

MSFT stock opened at $399.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $414.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $387.17. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $292.73 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 value 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.