CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 50% during the first quarter, now holding 15,000 shares valued at approximately $5.63 million.
• Many Wall Street analysts are bullish on Microsoft, with recent price targets rising significantly; for example, Bank of America increased its target from $585 to $640.
• Microsoft recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $3.32 and a yield of 0.6%.

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 50.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,000 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $3.28 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $525.96. 6,328,587 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,198,693. The business's 50 day moving average price is $499.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $439.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities research 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

About Microsoft

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.