Everest Management Corp. Boosts Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Everest Management Corp. grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,089 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 3.1% of Everest Management Corp.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Everest Management Corp.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the 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 directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value 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 approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $3.11 during trading on Friday, reaching $504.59. The company had a trading volume of 7,516,049 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,623,648. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $506.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The business's 50-day moving average is $469.28 and its 200 day moving average is $425.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated 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. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.

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.