Alterna Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 740 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Alterna Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,401 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 740 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Alterna Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Alterna Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.17 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $502.60 and a 200-day moving average of $441.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.

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