KWB Wealth Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

KWB Wealth increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,877 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 0.6% of KWB Wealth’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. KWB Wealth’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oak Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Oak Asset Management LLC now owns 10,004 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,217,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Sharper & Granite LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Sharper & Granite LLC now owns 1,990 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $839,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC now owns 10,627 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,479,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 15,790 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,655,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crane Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Crane Advisory LLC now owns 4,059 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,203,211.24. The trade was a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $408.25 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $425.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $423.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.