Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Sivia Capital Partners LLC

Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,332 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 3.7% of Sivia Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Sivia Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This trade represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were 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 owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $524.71.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $1.12 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $497.72. 13,967,977 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,684,200. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $500.76. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $463.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.46, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio 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.