Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Strategic Advisors LLC

Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,752 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 4.9% of Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $510.06 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $477.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $428.61. The company has a market cap 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. 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $514.64.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 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 analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Microsoft from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four equities research 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.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $543.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last three months. 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.