Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by RWQ Financial Management Services Inc.

RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,864 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,841 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 9.9% of RWQ Financial Management Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at $87,000. Family CFO Inc raised its position in Microsoft by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $146,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.32 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $414.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $387.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $295.25 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.75 dividend. 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 is currently 27.12%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Company 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.