Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. Grows Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 59.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,053 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,512 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 0.7% of Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $87,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $446.95 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $456.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.70, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $424.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $409.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.