MV Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

MV Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 31,218 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.3% of MV Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. MV Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,967 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,515,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant's stock worth $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MSFT. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $1.84 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $503.32. The company had a trading volume of 16,454,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,652,165. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $470.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.85. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. 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 company earned $2.94 EPS. The business's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.