HBK Sorce Advisory LLC Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

HBK Sorce Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,846 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 1.0% of HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $32,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after purchasing an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% in the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $16,075,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Loop Capital upped their target price on Microsoft from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $527.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $492.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $436.40. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a $0.83 dividend. 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 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 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.