JPL Wealth Management LLC Buys Shares of 19,748 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 19,748 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $8,324,000. Microsoft comprises 2.4% of JPL Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 110,243 shares of company stock worth $48,619,618. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $458.17 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $398.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $413.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reduced their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.30.

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.