Ibex Wealth Advisors lowered its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,511 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,453 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.4% of Ibex Wealth Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Ibex Wealth Advisors' holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 11.4% during the first quarter. First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services now owns 34,507 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $12,954,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 18.8% during the first quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 8,911 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the first quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 13,999 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,255,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 11,854 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,450,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MADDEN SECURITIES Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 10,381 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Down 0.4%
Shares of MSFT opened at $501.48 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $506.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $469.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $425.41.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of brokerages recently commented on MSFT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upgraded Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Insider Activity at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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