Evoke Wealth LLC Buys 1,905 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Evoke Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,674 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.3% of Evoke Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $45,385,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% during the third quarter. Boulder Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,569 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,106,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $450.18 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $402.37 and a 200 day moving average of $413.85. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Microsoft Company Profile

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.