Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Increased by New England Professional Planning Group Inc.

New England Professional Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 779 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.2% of New England Professional Planning Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. New England Professional Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $328,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 26.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 188,360 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,475,000 after acquiring an additional 39,034 shares during the period. Archvest Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the third quarter. Archvest Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 3,269 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $237,000. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 19,561 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,177,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Ibex Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,906,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $456.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $424.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $410.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $457.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.45 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

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.