Hobart Private Capital LLC Acquires 1,341 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hobart Private Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 61.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,533 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were 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 now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.8%

MSFT traded up $4.11 on Tuesday, reaching $490.11. 22,297,193 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,554,224. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $441.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $420.91. 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 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $491.85. The company has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.