Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC Takes $1.51 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC acquired 4,025 shares of Microsoft, valued at approximately $1.51 million, making it the firm's 20th largest holding.
• Analyst ratings for Microsoft are overwhelmingly positive, with 31 analysts assigning a "buy" rating and a target price average of $609.86 following recent price upgrades.
• Microsoft declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with a payout ratio of 24.34%, highlighting its financial stability amidst growth.

Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,025 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,511,000. Microsoft comprises about 1.4% of Hartmann Taylor Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fosun International Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value 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 trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded up $7.47 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $529.24. 18,630,436 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,304,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $438.72. The company has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities 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. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 is currently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush upped 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

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.