Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Carret Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Carret Asset Management LLC has increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 1.2%, making it the fund's second-largest position at 5.1% of their portfolio, valued at approximately $44.8 million.
• Microsoft reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $3.46, surpassing analyst estimates of $3.22, with revenue of $70.07 billion, indicating a year-over-year growth of 13.3%.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, which will be paid on September 11th, representing a dividend yield of 0.65% with a payout ratio of 25.66%.

Carret Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,440 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,463 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.1% of Carret Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its stake in 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 during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $21.65 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $534.89. The stock had a trading volume of 22,422,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,175,734. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $486.89 and a 200-day moving average of $433.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $598.61.

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.