Next Level Wealth Planning LLC Acquires Shares of 1,327 Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Next Level Wealth Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,327 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $559,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.4% of Next Level Wealth Planning LLC's holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after purchasing an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant's stock worth $20,322,513,000 after buying an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant's stock worth $16,567,258,000 after buying an additional 38,422,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 38,420,657 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,104,959,000 after acquiring an additional 406,940 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $475.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson raised Microsoft from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $425.00 to $450.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $499.97.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $367.78. 20,940,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,282,398. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $389.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $413.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

About Microsoft

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.