Provident Wealth Management LLC Purchases 111 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Provident Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,955 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Provident Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $250,032,357,000 after acquiring an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. TCI Fund Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. 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. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $4.07 during trading on Monday, reaching $402.25. The stock had a trading volume of 19,566,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,087,611. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $303.40 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.18 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $414.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $389.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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