Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,906 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 656 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.0% of Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock worth $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock worth $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%
Shares of MSFT stock opened at $524.11 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $489.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $434.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.36.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Microsoft Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 24.34%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft
In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush increased their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.
View Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
Microsoft Company Profile
(
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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