Founders Capital Management grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,786 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,599 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 6.7% of Founders Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Founders Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,430,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Up 1.1%
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $497.45 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $446.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $421.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $498.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $521.14.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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