Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Position Boosted by Register Financial Advisors LLC

Register Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,216 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.4% of Register Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Register Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $512.50 on Tuesday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $484.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $432.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $518.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, beating 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $555.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 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. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.