Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Purchased by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Key Points

• Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 8.1% during the first quarter, owning 26,523 shares valued at approximately $9.96 million, making Microsoft its fourth-largest holding.
• Microsoft's stock price decreased by 0.4% to $502.04 during trading hours, with a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion and a recent earnings report showing an EPS of $3.65, surpassing analyst estimates.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.7%, to be paid to investors on September 11th, 2023.

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,523 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,995 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.3% of Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.0% during the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 410.4% during the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. grew its stake in Microsoft by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $2.95 on Friday, reaching $506.69. 20,949,937 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,697,436. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month 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. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50 day moving average price is $508.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $447.33.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%.The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Microsoft has set its Q1 2026 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-nine have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $612.54.

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.