Echo Wealth Management LLC Makes New Investment in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Echo Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 2,288 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $963,000. Microsoft comprises about 0.8% of Echo Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Accordant Advisory Group Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $2,145,000. New Perspectives Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $343,000. Lakewood Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 12.3% in the first quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 7,675 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after buying an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% in the first quarter. Professional Advisory Services Inc. now owns 82,199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $34,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,937 shares during the period. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.8% in the first quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 13,867 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,834,000 after purchasing an additional 887 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. StockNews.com lowered Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $7.28 during trading on Friday, hitting $406.32. The company had a trading volume of 29,640,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,152,042. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $295.25 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $414.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $388.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.87% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at approximately $231,823,855.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.