Sfm LLC Purchases Shares of 19,624 Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

SFM LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 19,624 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $7,367,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.4% of SFM LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank increased their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $541.79.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $510.05. 21,120,811 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,618,181. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.42, a PEG ratio of 2.32 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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $477.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.54. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The business's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% 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 worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.