Bleakley Financial Group LLC Buys 5,015 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 216,230 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,015 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.6% of Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $81,311,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $87,000. Family CFO Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $394.94 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $303.40 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $414.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $389.48.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft 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 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 approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Corporate 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.