Fonville Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Fonville Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 77.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,141 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 3,120 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Fonville Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Fonville Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $4,000,376,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 277.8% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 7,004,341 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,633,912,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150,160 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three investment 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 a consensus target price of $470.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $453.55 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $435.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.27, a PEG ratio of 2.14 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. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $309.45 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm 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%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Microsoft Company 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.