Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Buck Wealth Strategies LLC

Key Points

• Buck Wealth Strategies LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation by 16.8%, owning a total of 31,068 shares valued at approximately $11.66 million.
• Multiple hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and Norges Bank, have also boosted their holdings, indicating strong institutional interest, with institutional investors owning 71.13% of the company's stock.
• Several analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with Goldman Sachs setting a new target of $550, reflecting a general sentiment of a "Moderate Buy".

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 16.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,068 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,466 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 2.1% of Buck Wealth Strategies LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the period. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th 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. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $9.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $524.11. The company's stock had a trading volume of 28,948,527 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,441,598. The firm's 50-day moving average is $488.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $434.13. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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 owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Company 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.