Palisade Asset Management LLC Decreases Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Palisade Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 137,128 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 5,106 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 5.3% of Palisade Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Palisade Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" 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. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $524.11 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.42, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $489.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $434.94. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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