Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by GoalVest Advisory LLC

GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFTFree Report) by 22.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,619 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.6% of GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.7% during 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,591,126,000 after acquiring an additional 277,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Macquarie raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

View Our Latest Stock Report on MSFT

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $460.77 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $461.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $426.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $411.42.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFTGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

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