Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,484 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,099 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.5% of Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Barclays raised their price target on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $551.21.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $513.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $483.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $431.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $518.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The firm 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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