Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,673 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,749,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 10,671,615 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,369,562,000 after purchasing an additional 88,583 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 2.0% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 10,620,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,353,488,000 after buying an additional 207,591 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT opened at $400.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $386.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.32 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $434.05.

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.