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

Professional Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 94,197 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 6,197 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 5.0% of Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Professional Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $35,361,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 shares were 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 directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $501.48. 16,466,043 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,678,724. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $506.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $469.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $425.41.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $534.14.

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.