Marcum Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,314 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,852 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.8% of Marcum Wealth LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Marcum Wealth LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $486.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $487.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $439.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $420.58.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $515.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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