Milestone Asset Management LLC Acquires 931 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Milestone Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,557 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 931 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.8% of Milestone Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Milestone Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $495.94 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $499.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $449.47 and a two-hundred 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. The firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 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 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 firm earned $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 target price (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $521.14.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. The trade was a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Microsoft

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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