Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Wright Investors Service Inc.

Wright Investors Service Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,647 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,219 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.0% of Wright Investors Service Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $521.14.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $495.94 on Friday. 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's 50-day moving average price is $449.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $499.30. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders 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 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% 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 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft 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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