Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,915 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.7% of Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 18,619 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 2,114 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 172,713 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $26,463,000 after purchasing an additional 41,453 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,164 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 1,732 shares during the period. Fagan Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Fagan Associates Inc. now owns 112,255 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,703,000 after purchasing an additional 13,212 shares during the period. Finally, StrategIQ Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. StrategIQ Financial Group LLC now owns 7,826 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 552 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.66% of the company’s stock.

In related news, CAO Frank H. Brod sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.94, for a total transaction of $530,820.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 57,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,109,643.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Margaret L. Johnson sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.08, for a total value of $6,162,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 50,023 shares in the company, valued at $8,808,049.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.39% of the stock is owned by insiders.

MSFT opened at $181.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1,390.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 2.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $119.01 and a 12 month high of $190.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $176.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The software giant reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $35.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.70 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 40.37% and a net margin of 33.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 5.69 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 20th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.95%.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $208.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $162.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Cowen reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target (down from $200.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on Microsoft from $190.00 to $204.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $190.66.

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops, licenses, and supports software, services, devices, and solutions worldwide. Its company's Productivity and Business Processes segment offers Office 365 commercial products and services, such as Office, Exchange, SharePoint, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, and related Client Access Licenses (CALs); Office 365 consumer services, including Skype, Outlook.com, and OneDrive; LinkedIn online professional network; and Dynamics business solutions comprising financial management, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management, supply chain management, and analytics applications for small and medium businesses, large organizations, and divisions of enterprises.

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