Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s 7th Largest Position

Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,512 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.0% of Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,540 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,335,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Alliance Wealth Management Group lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $497.45 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $498.04. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $446.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $421.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. Sell-side 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.14.

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.