Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by JGP Wealth Management LLC

JGP Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 70,528 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.5% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rebalance LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 3,451 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners raised its position in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,594,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $646,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $409.44 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $430.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.