Hoge Financial Services LLC Has $2.20 Million Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Hoge Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 21.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,854 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.5% of Hoge Financial Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Hoge Financial Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded up $2.83 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $513.71. The stock had a trading volume of 19,103,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,594,816. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $518.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $483.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $431.52. The company has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 target price (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $551.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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.