7,896 Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Acquired by Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC

Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,896 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,964,000. Microsoft comprises about 2.5% of Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. UBS Group reissued a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price target (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wedbush lifted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer raised Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $541.79.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $1.65 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $510.05. 21,120,811 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,618,181. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $514.64. The stock's fifty day moving average is $477.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $428.54. The company has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.