Meridian Financial Partners LLC Has $5.32 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Meridian Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,157 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 570 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of Meridian Financial Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Meridian Financial Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $3.80 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $499.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,981,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,689,494. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $467.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $424.96. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.62, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.04. 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 twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $530.00 price objective (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $531.82.

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.