Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Professional Advisory Services Inc.

Professional Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,197 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.0% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,361,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT traded down $1.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $496.62. 11,831,573 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,644,968. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $500.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $463.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $524.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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.