Financial Council Asset Management Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Council Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,861 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.5% of Financial Council Asset Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Financial Council Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,708,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale 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 firm’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 transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. BNP Paribas raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 target price (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $410.54 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $413.84 and a 200-day moving average of $392.05. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $306.26 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.