Narwhal Capital Management Purchases 2,680 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Key Points

• Narwhal Capital Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.7%, owning a total of 160,705 shares valued at approximately $60.3 million.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Microsoft, with TD Cowen setting a new target of $640.00, reflecting a strong buy sentiment among investment analysts.
• Microsoft's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $76.44 billion in revenue and $3.65 EPS, indicating an 18.1% revenue increase year-over-year.

Narwhal Capital Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 160,705 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 2,680 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.4% of Narwhal Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its stake in shares of 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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. boosted its stake in shares of 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. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the fourth quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant's stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $585.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $524.11 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $489.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $434.88. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock valued at $27,520,933. 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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