Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Kera Capital Partners Inc.

Kera Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 9.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,464 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,425 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.8% of Kera Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Kera Capital Partners Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $3,035,987,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $486.00 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $487.75. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $439.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $420.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

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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