Sterling Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sterling Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 32.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,487 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.7% of Sterling Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Sterling Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $503.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $471.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $426.18. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 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. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for 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 company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

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.

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