Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by Persium Advisors LLC

Persium Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,353 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 0.8% of Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.6% in the first quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 71,140 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,705,000 after buying an additional 5,054 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 1,427,989 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $536,053,000 after acquiring an additional 7,494 shares during the last quarter. GGM Financials LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 2,959 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. OLIO Financial Planning increased its position in Microsoft by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. OLIO Financial Planning now owns 1,294 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $486,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Finally, Seneca House Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Seneca House Advisors now owns 30,784 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,556,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.71.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $498.25 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $500.76. 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 50-day simple moving average of $461.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $423.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.