Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Canton Hathaway LLC's 6th Largest Position

Canton Hathaway LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 45.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,236 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 7,600 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of Canton Hathaway LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Canton Hathaway LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,098,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade 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 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $9.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $524.03. 13,043,612 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,325,803. The company's 50-day moving average is $488.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.13. The company has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.