Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Holdings Lifted by Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,630 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,375 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 2.4% of Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,018,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Marathon Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $501,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. now owns 31,220 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,508 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its position in Microsoft by 8.0% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 38,214 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares during the period. Finally, Fogel Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% during the first quarter. Fogel Capital Management Inc. now owns 71,588 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,873,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $581.00 target price (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $543.79.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s 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 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 quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.0%

Microsoft stock opened at $510.06 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $477.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $428.61. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $514.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.