Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Boyar Asset Management Inc.'s Largest Position

Boyar Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,527 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 2,807 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 11.6% of Boyar Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Boyar Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $522.04. The stock had a trading volume of 15,514,819 shares, compared to its average volume of 19,829,278. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $496.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $438.29. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

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.