Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Essex Financial Services Inc.'s 3rd Largest Position

Essex Financial Services Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 103,895 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,960 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.8% of Essex Financial Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $39,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price target (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.4%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $7.47 on Tuesday, reaching $529.24. The stock had a trading volume of 18,664,385 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,189,628. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $499.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $439.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

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.