Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC

Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,749 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,052,704 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,675,715,000 after acquiring an additional 1,823,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,829,031 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,787,934,000 after acquiring an additional 1,408,374 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $513.59.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of MSFT opened at $472.75 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $473.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $419.01 and a 200 day moving average of $417.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted 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 net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.