Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Beech Hill Advisors Inc.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,800 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,213 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.5% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MSFT traded down $4.10 on Thursday, hitting $520.84. 16,045,615 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,850,260. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $495.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $437.64. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $76.44 billion for 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 revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.