Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 289.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,837 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 52,659 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 6.0% of Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners grew its position in Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant's stock worth $646,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,609,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,727,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Microsoft Stock Performance
MSFT stock traded up $7.20 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $414.01. The company had a trading volume of 17,384,424 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,017,473. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $437.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $422.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 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 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $494.72.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Microsoft
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Microsoft, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Microsoft wasn't on the list.
While Microsoft currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Which stocks are likely to thrive in today's challenging market? Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that will drive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
