Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Purchases 43,117 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 529,124 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 43,117 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 11.7% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $198,628,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $6.75 during trading on Thursday, reaching $512.37. 8,677,880 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,579,065. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $513.35. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $474.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $427.28.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp restated a "sector weight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $538.04.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.