Equita Financial Network Inc. Purchases 904 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Equita Financial Network Inc. increased its position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 39.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,169 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 904 shares during the quarter. Equita Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,650 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,496,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. boosted its position in Microsoft by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. now owns 315,594 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $133,023,000 after acquiring an additional 18,052 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,426 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,345,000 after acquiring an additional 1,268 shares in the last quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 147.9% during the 4th quarter. Elevate Wealth Advisory Inc. now owns 1,748 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $16,075,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $520.17 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $502.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $441.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 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 firm had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was 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 approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total value of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 39,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Microsoft from $525.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (up previously from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus 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.