Austin Wealth Management LLC Has $1.25 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Austin Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,902 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 309 shares during the quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,245,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SHEPHERD WEALTH MANAGEMENT Ltd LIABILITY Co acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $2,372,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $2,634,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $165,000. Smart Portfolios LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Smart Portfolios LLC now owns 4,613 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,944,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 58,639 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,716,000 after purchasing an additional 4,361 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.30.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $454.27 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $395.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $412.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 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 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.