Archford Capital Strategies LLC Buys 8,199 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,680 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 8,199 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.1% of Archford Capital Strategies LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Archford Capital Strategies LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the period. Wealth Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $2.81 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $524.94. 21,298,640 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,431,307. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $492.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $436.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

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.