New England Professional Planning Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

New England Professional Planning Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 779 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.2% of New England Professional Planning Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. New England Professional Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. New Street Research assumed coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

MSFT stock opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $457.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $424.11 and a 200-day moving average of $410.15. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft Company 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.