1,504 Shares in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Acquired by Sims Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Sims Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation valued at approximately $565,000, representing around 0.3% of its investment portfolio and making Microsoft its 29th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors, including Newton One Investments LLC and IFS Advisors LLC, have recently increased their stakes in Microsoft, with hedge funds owning 71.13% of the stock.
• Microsoft reported strong earnings with $3.65 EPS for the quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, and confirmed a quarterly dividend of $0.83 per share, reflecting a yield of 0.6%.

Sims Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,504 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $565,000. Microsoft comprises about 0.3% of Sims Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 42.3% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 3,988,595 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,497,279,000 after buying an additional 1,185,475 shares in the last quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 36,173 shares of the software giant's stock worth $13,579,000 after buying an additional 418 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,017 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 908,778 shares of the software giant's stock worth $341,147,000 after buying an additional 118,107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 24.0% in the 1st quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $521.77. 20,177,974 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,329,209. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The business's 50 day moving average is $496.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $438.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.95 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $630.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Microsoft from $580.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

About Microsoft

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.