GWN Securities Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GWN Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 23,261 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $10,300,000. Microsoft comprises about 2.7% of GWN Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,335,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0%

MSFT stock opened at $450.18 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $402.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $413.88. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

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.