First Affirmative Financial Network Has $4.74 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

First Affirmative Financial Network trimmed its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,617 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,255 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.9% of First Affirmative Financial Network's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. First Affirmative Financial Network's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,736,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $1.12 on Monday, reaching $497.72. 13,967,977 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,684,187. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.46, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $461.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $423.48. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $500.76.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Five 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $524.71.

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.