Zhang Financial LLC Raises Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Zhang Financial LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,431 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 2,009 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.2% of Zhang Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Zhang Financial LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $23,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MSFT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $534.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.4%

Microsoft stock opened at $503.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $506.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $470.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $425.67.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. 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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