Stonegate Investment Group LLC Acquires 7,107 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 439,449 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,107 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.4% of Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $164,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Retirement Planning Group LLC NY raised its stake in Microsoft by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC NY now owns 1,499 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $563,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% during the first quarter. Appleton Partners Inc. MA now owns 122,316 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $45,916,000 after purchasing an additional 2,702 shares during the period. Mayport LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% in the first quarter. Mayport LLC now owns 9,445 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,546,000 after buying an additional 389 shares during the period. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the first quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,421 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,413,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Finally, Cabot Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Cabot Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,520 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,075,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on Microsoft from $494.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $555.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft 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 directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 have sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $484.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $432.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year 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, topping 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 business had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Microsoft’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. 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%.

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.