Weaver Capital Management LLC Acquires 4,718 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 47.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,707 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 4,718 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.5% of Weaver Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Weaver Capital Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MSFT. Monte Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 2.5% in the first quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC now owns 8,443 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,105,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 33.0% in the first quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC now owns 13,143 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,934,000 after purchasing an additional 3,263 shares during the last quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the first quarter. CCG Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,441 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,670,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% in the first quarter. Marietta Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,502 shares of the software giant's stock worth $17,832,000 after acquiring an additional 2,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deltec Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the first quarter. Deltec Asset Management LLC now owns 68,833 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,839,000 after acquiring an additional 289 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $9.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $524.03. The company had a trading volume of 13,043,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,325,803. The company's fifty day moving average price is $488.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $434.13. Microsoft Corporation has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.41, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.49% and a net margin of 36.15%. The firm's revenue was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,743 shares of company stock worth $27,520,933 in the last quarter. Company 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.