Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Embree Financial Group's 6th Largest Position

Embree Financial Group increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,340 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,858 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 3.4% of Embree Financial Group's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Embree Financial Group's holdings in Microsoft were worth $20,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, 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 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $524.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average is $489.94 and its 200 day moving average is $434.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

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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