Donaldson Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Donaldson Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 279,631 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 4.0% of Donaldson Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Donaldson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $104,971,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush increased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $534.14.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $503.32 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $470.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $425.76. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $506.78. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.28 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

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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