Arvest Investments Inc. Has $2.63 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Arvest Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 44.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,017 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,163 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,634,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $503.32 on Monday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $470.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $425.67. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $506.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.