Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Lessened by Toth Financial Advisory Corp

Toth Financial Advisory Corp lowered its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 62,847 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,241 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 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 large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $2.03 during trading on Thursday, hitting $501.48. 16,466,043 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,679,969. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a P/E 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $467.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $424.96.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $534.14.

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.