Princeton Global Asset Management LLC Has $26.71 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Princeton Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 7.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 71,140 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,054 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 5.3% of Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $26,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $498.25 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $461.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $423.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $500.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. On average, equities 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 paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on shares of Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $524.71.

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.