Wulff Hansen & CO. Has $4.89 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,589 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 715 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 4.5% of Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Wulff Hansen & CO.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth 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 period. Avondale Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth 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 period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

MSFT opened at $450.18 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $402.37 and its 200 day moving average price is $413.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly 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 firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reissued a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Microsoft 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.