Carret Asset Management LLC Buys 1,463 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Carret Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 119,440 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.1% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $44,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 66.7% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $513.71 on Monday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $518.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The business has a fifty day moving average of $483.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $431.57. The company has a market cap of $3.82 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its 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. 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 company earned $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 target price (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $551.21.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft 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.