Evanson Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Evanson Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,254 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.0% of Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $13,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% during the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after acquiring an additional 18,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $457.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $424.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $410.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

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.