Putney Financial Group LLC Takes $5.93 Million Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Putney Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 14,058 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $5,925,000. Microsoft comprises about 4.1% of Putney Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $480.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $436.07 and a 200 day moving average of $420.16. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $481.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the 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 now directly owns 98,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $565.00 price objective (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, June 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five 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, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

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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