J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 327,086 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 12.3% of J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $122,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fosun International Ltd increased 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 acquiring an additional 23 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. This trade 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 valued at $21,493,447 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.
Read Our Latest Research Report on MSFT
Microsoft Stock Up 0.7%
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $3.42 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $524.00. The company had a trading volume of 7,822,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,191,998. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $500.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $439.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.
Microsoft Company Profile
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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.
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