Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by CWA Asset Management Group LLC

CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 197,516 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 4,696 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 3.6% of CWA Asset Management Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. CWA Asset Management Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $74,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $1.21 during trading on Monday, hitting $512.50. The company had a trading volume of 14,290,681 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,824,139. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $518.29. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $484.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $432.22. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $555.86.

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.