Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. Increases Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,999 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.0% of Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Crescent Sterling Ltd. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Crescent Sterling Ltd. now owns 11,854 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp increased its holdings in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 10,381 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares during the period. Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,554 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,924,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC now owns 31,101 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 16,041 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $6,022,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $501.48 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $469.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $425.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.75, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. 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 Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $506.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 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%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group restated a “positive” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 30th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. TD Securities upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.14.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% 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 worth $60,224,683 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.