Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Madrona Financial Services LLC

Madrona Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,534 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,101 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for approximately 7.0% of Madrona Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Madrona Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $25,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after acquiring an additional 46,579,693 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. This trade represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup increased their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MSFT opened at $524.94 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $494.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $437.01. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The stock has a market cap of $3.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 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 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.