Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Narwhal Capital Management

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 holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first 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 buying an additional 2,680 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 5.4% of Narwhal Capital Management's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $60,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,140 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,274,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $609.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $6.74 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $528.90. The company had a trading volume of 12,238,118 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,385,447. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $491.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $435.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.77, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company's revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

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.