Root Financial Partners LLC Acquires 8,087 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 50.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,096 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,087 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.0% of Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,370,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $521.77 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.88 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.25, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average of $498.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $438.72. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.95 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the business’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 transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the business’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 value of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock valued at $24,921,913 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on MSFT. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $637.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research 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 research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.86.

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.