5,098 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bought by Accordant Advisory Group Inc

Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,098 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,145,000. Microsoft makes up about 1.6% of Accordant Advisory Group Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter valued at about $69,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

MSFT stock traded up $7.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $406.32. The company had a trading volume of 29,640,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,152,042. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $414.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $387.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $295.25 and a fifty-two week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share 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 38.87%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. 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 Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following 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. Insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

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.