Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 1,744 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,926 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,744 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.4% of Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Walkner Condon Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,365,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares during the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its position in Microsoft by 7.7% during the third quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bensler LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 3.2% during the third quarter. Bensler LLC now owns 86,932 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $27,449,000 after acquiring an additional 2,674 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $434.05.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $399.04 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.08, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $292.73 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $414.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $387.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.