Parisi Gray Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,872 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,421 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 3.2% of Parisi Gray Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Parisi Gray Wealth Management's holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. 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 three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Stock Down 0.4%
MSFT stock traded down $2.03 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $501.48. 16,466,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,666,022. The firm's 50-day moving average is $467.76 and its 200-day moving average is $424.96. The company has a market cap of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $506.78.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.66%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. KeyCorp reiterated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Four 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 data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Microsoft
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Read More

Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Need to stretch out your 401K or Roth IRA plan? Use these time-tested investing strategies to grow the monthly retirement income that your stock portfolio generates.
Get This Free Report