Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,766 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,935 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.9% of Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $11,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL now owns 4,208 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Arbor Capital Management Inc. ADV now owns 7,166 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Affiance Financial LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Affiance Financial LLC now owns 10,362 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,988,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Henrickson Nauta Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,898 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forbes Financial Planning Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Forbes Financial Planning Inc. now owns 1,845 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 69.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $331.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $213.43 and a 12 month high of $366.78. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $332.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $312.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.70% and a net margin of 34.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.23 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total value of $16,860,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $375.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $336.00 to $425.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $410.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, July 28th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $373.68.

Microsoft Company 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.