Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Washington Trust Advisors Inc.

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 77.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 47,460 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 20,730 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.6% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $17,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp raised shares of Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $529.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.28 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 quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $499.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $439.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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