F&V Capital Management LLC Invests $231,000 in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

F&V Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 616 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

MSFT traded up $6.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $512.37. 8,677,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,579,065. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $513.35. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $474.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $427.28.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer raised shares of Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.04.

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.