Simplicity Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 191.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,597 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,677 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 0.8% of Simplicity Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Family CFO Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 13.6% during the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.74 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $413.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $392.91. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $306.26 and a 1-year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft 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 transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.