GM Advisory Group LLC Purchases 1,729 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,456 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,729 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.4% of GM Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. GM Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,002,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,658,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the second quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,763,000 after acquiring an additional 1,164 shares during the last quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the second quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,277 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,661,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 17,187 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,682,000 after purchasing an additional 553 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $442.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $432.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.03. The company has a market capitalization of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.50, a PEG ratio of 2.40 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $512.66.

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.