Arlington Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Arlington Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,479 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,740 shares during the period. Arlington Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,808,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $495.94 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $449.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $421.93. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $499.30.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.14.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's 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. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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