Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Greenwood Capital Associates LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,232 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,175 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.4% of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the 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. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $503.32 on Monday. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $506.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $470.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

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.

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