PFG Investments LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

PFG Investments LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 185.1% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 130,983 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 85,043 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.3% of PFG Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $55,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp raised its stake in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $4.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $402.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,566,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,087,611. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $414.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $389.01. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $303.40 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

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.