Levy Wealth Management Group LLC Acquires 194 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Levy Wealth Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,924 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.3% of Levy Wealth Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Levy Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 1,146,098 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $430,979,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 72,496 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $27,261,000 after buying an additional 662 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 23,975 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,016,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Better Money Decisions LLC now owns 2,446 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $920,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 12,014 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,517,000 after acquiring an additional 2,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $407.57 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $275.37 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $414.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $386.93.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MSFT. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. KeyCorp started coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Macquarie boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.