Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Davies Financial Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Davies Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 28.8%, holding 12,764 shares worth approximately $4.79 million, making it the firm's 7th largest investment.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc. and Norges Bank, have significantly increased their holdings in Microsoft, with institutional ownership now accounting for 71.13% of the company.
• Microsoft's stock has been consistently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with a current consensus price target of $555.86, reflecting a positive outlook despite recent trading fluctuations.

Davies Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 28.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,764 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,854 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 4.1% of Davies Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Davies Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fosun International Ltd boosted its position in Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $598.61.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $21.65 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $534.89. The company had a trading volume of 22,422,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,175,734. The stock has a market cap of $3.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.43, a PEG ratio of 2.33 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. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $486.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $433.33. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released 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 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.