KPP Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 32,461 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.2% of KPP Advisory Services LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. KPP Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the first quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the period. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $16,075,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MSFT. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $522.04. 15,514,819 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,343,549. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The business's 50-day moving average price is $495.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $437.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 in the last 90 days. Corporate 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.