Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Trimmed by Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.

Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 665,373 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 8,751 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 24.2% of Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Armstrong Henry H Associates Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $249,774,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $492.27 on Thursday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $444.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $421.40. The company has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.04, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.03. 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 $494.56.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $519.43.

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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