Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 12.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,630 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.4% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after buying an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Microsoft Trading Up 1.3%
Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $6.33 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $512.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,549,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,218,043. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $481.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $430.27. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $514.64. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $548.36.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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