Curat Global LLC Purchases New Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Curat Global LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,880 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,832,000. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of Curat Global LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays upped their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $524.71.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $498.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a 50 day moving average of $459.28 and a 200 day moving average of $423.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $500.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 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.

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