Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,077 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,171 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 2.2% of Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $27,057,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT opened at $524.11 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $489.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $435.01. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MSFT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.