Bennett Associates Wealth Management Has $985,000 Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bennett Associates Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 47.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,338 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 753 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.8% of Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Bennett Associates Wealth Management’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Salvus Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Salvus Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,134 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,850,000 after acquiring an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 14,622 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,163,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,803 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,347,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Seaside Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Seaside Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,157 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 13,009 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,483,000 after purchasing an additional 567 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $392.53 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $421.47 and its 200 day moving average is $422.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $437.32, for a total transaction of $874,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 51,852 shares in the company, valued at $22,675,916.64. This represents a 3.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 7,000 shares of company stock worth $3,070,340 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. Mizuho lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.96.

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.