Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,435 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,171 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.8% of Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,192,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Michael A. Dubis Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $213,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $456,000. Allstate Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3,304.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 209,697 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $88,387,000 after acquiring an additional 203,537 shares during the period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 180,685 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,159,000 after acquiring an additional 14,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pamplona Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $92,756,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $513.13.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2%

MSFT opened at $463.87 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $413.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $415.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.