Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,130 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,817 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.1% of Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,727,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vishria Bird Financial Group LLC now owns 36,679 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,431,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 47.2% in the first quarter. Rovin Capital UT ADV now owns 3,482 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after buying an additional 1,116 shares in the last quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. American Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,697 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,976,000 after buying an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Core Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 37.6% in the 1st quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,351 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $568,000 after buying an additional 369 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,025,258 shares of company stock valued at $12,160,356. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $8.82 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $406.66. The stock had a trading volume of 17,446,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,613,484. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $303.40 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $413.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $390.05. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.