Spire Wealth Management Acquires 9,726 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 183,077 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 9,726 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.2% of Spire Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Spire Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $68,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $2.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $524.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,298,640 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,431,307. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $436.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. Microsoft's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.95 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.34%.

Microsoft 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.