Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Palouse Capital Management Inc.

Palouse Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,753 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.0% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Palouse Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $511.70 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $513.37. The company has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.54, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $476.35 and a 200 day moving average of $427.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $538.04.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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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