Regatta Capital Group LLC Raises Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Regatta Capital Group LLC lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,426 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.7% of Regatta Capital Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Regatta Capital Group LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $1.84 on Friday, reaching $503.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 16,454,184 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,652,165. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $506.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.90, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average is $470.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $425.85. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group restated a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $534.14.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business'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 transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.