Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,021 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.5% of Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 11,692 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,389,000 after acquiring an additional 724 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 28,753 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,794,000 after acquiring an additional 263 shares in the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 59,713 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $22,416,000 after acquiring an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 24,443 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,176,000 after acquiring an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Price Performance
NASDAQ MSFT opened at $492.27 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $444.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $421.40. The company has a market cap of $3.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $494.56.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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%. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $519.43.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on MSFT
Microsoft Profile
(
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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