Everhart Financial Group Inc. Acquires 4,475 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 42,827 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,475 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 4.1% of Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% during the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter valued at about $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $424.58 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $429.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $426.58. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $384.81 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.99 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.62.

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.