Wallace Advisory Group LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Wallace Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,245 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.9% of Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Wallace Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after purchasing an additional 3,103,212 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price target (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $521.14.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $497.45 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $498.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $446.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $421.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given 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 is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 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.