Horizon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,237 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 516 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.8% of Horizon Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Horizon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,594,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Microsoft Stock Performance
NASDAQ MSFT traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $497.72. The stock had a trading volume of 13,967,977 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,684,187. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $500.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $461.41 and a 200 day moving average of $423.48. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 target price (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $524.71.
View Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business'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 value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
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.
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