Everhart Financial Group Inc. Raises Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,952 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 783 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.5% of Everhart Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Everhart Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $6.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $512.37. 8,677,880 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,579,244. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $474.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $427.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $513.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on shares of Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.