Balefire LLC Has $3.37 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Balefire LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 13.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,973 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,051 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 1.2% of Balefire LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fosun International Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after buying an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Securities raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price target (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $524.94 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $494.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $437.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 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 Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

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.