Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. Purchases 476 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,471 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.4% of Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $529.24 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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 has a fifty day moving average of $499.37 and a 200-day moving average of $439.35.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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.