SJS Investment Consulting Inc. Acquires 1,412 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 18.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,911 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 0.6% of SJS Investment Consulting Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the first quarter. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 13,999 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,255,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the first quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 11,854 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 1.4% in the first quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 10,381 shares of the software giant's stock worth $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 4.4% in the first quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,554 shares of the software giant's stock worth $9,924,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ayrshire Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 6.5% in the first quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 31,101 shares of the software giant's stock worth $11,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,906 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MSFT. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush lifted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Westpark Capital reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report 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, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $534.14.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $501.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.78. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $469.28 and a 200 day moving average of $425.41.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft's payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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