Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Strong Tower Advisory Services

Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,195 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 3,463 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.0% of Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,674 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the last quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC now owns 19,081 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,163,000 after buying an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 1st quarter worth $5,646,000. NBC Securities Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 100,627.5% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 80,582 shares of the software giant's stock worth $30,250,000 after buying an additional 80,502 shares during the period. Finally, Enterprise Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 38,169 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,328,000 after buying an additional 724 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on MSFT. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $521.14.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Microsoft stock opened at $495.94 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $499.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.33, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $449.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $421.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. 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. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend 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%.

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.

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