Toth Financial Advisory Corp Decreases Stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Toth Financial Advisory Corp lessened its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,847 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,241 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.8% of Toth Financial Advisory Corp's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Toth Financial Advisory Corp's holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,592,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fosun International Ltd grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,335,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $530.00 price target (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $527.31.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

NASDAQ:MSFT traded up $6.89 on Wednesday, hitting $503.51. 18,633,770 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,667,813. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $465.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $424.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $506.65. The company has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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.

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.