SOL Capital Management CO Raises Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

SOL Capital Management CO increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,606 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.9% of SOL Capital Management CO’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. SOL Capital Management CO’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. TSA Wealth Managment LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.5% during the first quarter. TSA Wealth Managment LLC now owns 2,149 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $807,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Security National Bank boosted its stake in Microsoft by 11.7% during the first quarter. Security National Bank now owns 49,087 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,427,000 after buying an additional 5,123 shares during the last quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.6% during the first quarter. Phillips Wealth Planners LLC now owns 6,673 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,592,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 20.3% during the first quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 14,355 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $5,389,000 after buying an additional 2,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New World Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 61.3% during the first quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 10,423 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,913,000 after buying an additional 3,961 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital boosted 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. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.5%

MSFT opened at $527.75 on Wednesday. Microsoft Corporation has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $555.45. The company has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.69, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $492.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $436.40.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following 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 position. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president 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 quarter, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Company 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.