Instrumental Wealth LLC Grows Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Instrumental Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,020 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 386 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.1% of Instrumental Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Instrumental Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Newton One Investments LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 66.7% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. The trade was a 11.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Microsoft from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. KeyCorp raised Microsoft from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $630.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $520.17 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $502.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $441.01.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.44% and a net margin of 36.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 currently 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.