7,159 Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Acquired by Balance Wealth LLC

Balance Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,159 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,687,000. Microsoft comprises 1.7% of Balance Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $7.89 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $527.75. 19,134,645 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,349,202. The stock has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.69, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $491.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $435.76. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction 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 $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Company 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.