Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Boosted by Pinion Investment Advisors LLC

Pinion Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 101.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,692 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 10,421 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.7% of Pinion Investment Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of MSFT opened at $510.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $477.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $428.49. 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 $514.64.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their price target on Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $541.79.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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.