AdvisorNet Financial Inc Purchases 935 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,150 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $24,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $431.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. 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 dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $411.84 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $275.37 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.24, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $415.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $384.15.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.