Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,314,216 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 52,361 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 5.1% of QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $493,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $550.14.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0%

MSFT traded up $5.01 during trading on Thursday, hitting $510.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,074,043 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,868,408. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $482.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $430.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.48, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $514.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Microsoft Company 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.