Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Wall Street Financial Group Inc.

Wall Street Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 27.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,443 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 1.0% of Wall Street Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Wall Street Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Microsoft were worth $917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Westfuller Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Westfuller Advisors LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 444 shares in the last quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Aljian Capital Management LLC now owns 38,506 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $14,455,000 after buying an additional 1,120 shares in the last quarter. Convergence Financial LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 15,915 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,974,000 after buying an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,886 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,843,000 after buying an additional 3,823 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CFM Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 50,200 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $18,845,000 after buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock traded up $1.46 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $522.04. 13,172,430 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,226,391. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $500.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $439.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.95 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.