Briggs Wealth Management Inc Takes $795,000 Position in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Briggs Wealth Management Inc bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,644 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $795,000. Microsoft makes up 0.9% of Briggs Wealth Management Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 51.3% in the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bernzott Capital Advisors purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 287.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, University of Illinois Foundation purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $402.84, for a total value of $1,812,780.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 47,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,122,009.12. This represents a 8.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 15,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.99, for a total transaction of $7,145,345.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 110,477 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,928,792.23. This trade represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,762 shares of company stock valued at $10,508,361. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of MSFT opened at $379.40 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $356.28 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $412.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $4.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.06 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $82.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.44 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 39.34% and a return on equity of 31.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 16.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 20th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

Key Stories Impacting Microsoft

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Microsoft is reportedly building a more than $1 billion annual AI and cloud business with ByteDance in China, underscoring strong demand for its Azure and OpenAI-related services. Microsoft Scores Massive China AI Win as TikTok Parent Eyes $1 Billion Spend
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI’s push to monetize ChatGPT with ads highlights continued AI commercialization, which may support sentiment around Microsoft’s OpenAI stake and AI strategy. OpenAI Brings ChatGPT Ads to Japan
• Neutral Sentiment: Microsoft is said to be moving Copilot to usage-based pricing and exploring cheaper AI models, a sign it is trying to improve margins as AI infrastructure costs rise. Microsoft (MSFT) Moves Copilot To Usage Based Pricing As AI Costs Rise
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports say investors are increasingly worried about Microsoft’s AI valuation, spending, and monetization, which is weighing on the stock. Microsoft Faces AI Expectations Test
• Negative Sentiment: Microsoft is also facing securities class-action lawsuits and investigations over alleged misleading AI-related statements, adding legal uncertainty. Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman LLC Urges Microsoft Corporation Investors to Act: Class Action Filed Alleging Investor Harm
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Microsoft walked away from a potential $3 billion Oracle cloud deal suggest possible friction in securing additional cloud capacity. Why Microsoft Stock Slumped Today

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Evercore dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $510.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. China Renaissance lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $630.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Truist Financial cut their target price on Microsoft from $675.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 9th. Forty-one investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $561.20.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).