Financial Council Asset Management Inc Buys 326 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Financial Council Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,861 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.5% of Financial Council Asset Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Financial Council Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth about $87,000. Family CFO Inc grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $146,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $410.54 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $413.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $392.05. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $306.26 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.54, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.