Howard Financial Services LTD. Acquires 645 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Howard Financial Services LTD. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 24,443 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 645 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Howard Financial Services LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Howard Financial Services LTD.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.8%

MSFT opened at $490.11 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $441.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $420.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.88, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.03. 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 one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $491.85.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. 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 quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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