Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Insight Inv LLC

Insight Inv LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 376.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 50,130 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 39,605 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.1% of Insight Inv LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Insight Inv LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Nicholson Meyer Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,028,000. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the first quarter. Nabity Jensen Investment Management Inc now owns 6,762 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,538,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 23.3% in the first quarter. Argent Advisors Inc. now owns 13,814 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,186,000 after acquiring an additional 2,613 shares during the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.5% in the first quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 44,831 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $16,829,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Custos Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% in the first quarter. Custos Family Office LLC now owns 1,494 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of MSFT opened at $520.58 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $500.51 and a 200 day moving average of $439.91. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. KeyCorp upgraded Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.