Advisory Resource Group Purchases 208 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Advisory Resource Group increased its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,615 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 208 shares during the quarter. Advisory Resource Group’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the first quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 37,076 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $14,044,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 26.5% during the first quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 8,233 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 5.8% during the first quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 54,615 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,502,000 after acquiring an additional 2,989 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the first quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 46,834 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,581,000 after acquiring an additional 347 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 37.5% during the first quarter. Guided Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,384 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,021,000 after acquiring an additional 1,468 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $513.71 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $483.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $431.47. 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 $518.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. 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 presently 25.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $530.00 price objective (up previously from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $551.21.

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.