Gray Private Wealth LLC Has $1.66 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Gray Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 51.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,411 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,496 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.0% of Gray Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Gray Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,656,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. increased its position in Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $16,075,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 price objective (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $524.94. 21,298,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,431,307. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $492.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $436.40.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.