Benjamin Edwards Inc. Has $134.39 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,573 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 9,336 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.9% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $134,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $1.10 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $478.04. The company had a trading volume of 15,377,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,491,260. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $430.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. KeyCorp reaffirmed a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.