Armis Advisers LLC Buys New Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Armis Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 18,487 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $7,792,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.0% of Armis Advisers LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.84 on Friday, reaching $477.40. The stock had a trading volume of 37,241,095 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,515,262. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $483.46. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.03. The firm's fifty day moving average is $437.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $420.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft 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.