Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 936,553 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 7,469 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 6.8% of Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $351,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. 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 worth $7,345,000 after buying an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group reaffirmed a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Oppenheimer upgraded Microsoft from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $600.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wedbush raised their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Microsoft
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Price Performance
Microsoft stock opened at $503.02 on Tuesday. The business's fifty day moving average is $471.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $426.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.78.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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