Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Decreased by Contravisory Investment Management Inc.

Contravisory Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,700 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 538 shares during the quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $120,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $521.14.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $497.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $452.23 and a 200-day moving average of $422.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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