Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV Purchases 525 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,606 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Eclectic Associates Inc. ADV's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,729,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during 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. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

MSFT traded up $7.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $498.25. 13,984,829 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,645,425. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $457.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $423.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $500.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 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 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $524.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 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.