Libra Wealth LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Libra Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,846 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.5% of Libra Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Libra Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $522.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $501.60 and a 200-day moving average of $440.51. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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