Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lifted by McNaughton Wealth Management LLC

McNaughton Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,143 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the quarter. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $141,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.9 %

MSFT opened at $408.25 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $425.20 and a 200-day moving average of $422.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total value of $1,077,175.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. This trade represents a 4.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com upgraded Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

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.