Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,445 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,901 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 2.2% of Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $30,949,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 66.7% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $515.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $485.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $512.50 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $518.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $484.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $432.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current 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 given 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 is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

About Microsoft

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.