Canopy Partners LLC Buys 3,273 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Canopy Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,260 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,273 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 4.2% of Canopy Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the period. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction 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 represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.89.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $478.87 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $480.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $425.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $418.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (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 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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.