Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Dover Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Dover Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,294 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,961 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.3% of Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $565.00 to $585.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $538.04.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $511.70 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $513.37. The company has a 50 day moving average of $476.35 and a 200-day moving average of $427.88. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.