Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,766 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,831 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.9% of Portside Wealth Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Portside Wealth Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $16,429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have recently commented on MSFT. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $524.71.
Check Out Our Latest Report on MSFT
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value 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. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Microsoft Price Performance
Shares of Microsoft stock traded up $7.16 on Thursday, hitting $498.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,984,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,692,275. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $500.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $457.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $423.04.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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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