Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by J.Safra Asset Management Corp

J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 39.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,122 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,312 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 0.5% of J.Safra Asset Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. J.Safra Asset Management Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,677,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WFA Asset Management Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 27.0% during the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Microsoft by 0.3% during the second quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 410.4% during the third quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Group Ltd. now owns 2,374 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $1,375,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their position. The sale 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 Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.6%

MSFT stock opened at $520.58 on Thursday. The company's 50 day moving average is $500.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $439.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.17, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 presently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.

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