Noble Wealth Management PBC Invests $943,000 in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,237 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $943,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $16,104,959,000 after purchasing an additional 406,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 28,228,502 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,898,314,000 after purchasing an additional 324,052 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $433.31 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.22 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $386.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $411.27.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $507.77.

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.