Patron Partners LLC Buys 46 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Patron Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,177 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.7% of Patron Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fosun International Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,490,000 after acquiring an additional 23 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,385,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2%

MSFT stock opened at $522.04 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $496.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $438.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. 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 $3.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, 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 transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 over the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Microsoft from $581.00 to $639.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $545.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

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.