Evolution Wealth Management Inc. Invests $960,000 in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Evolution Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,930 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $960,000. Microsoft makes up about 1.2% of Evolution Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. University of Illinois Foundation bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, November 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Partners set a $560.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim set a $675.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $474.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $555.45. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $502.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $502.77.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.45% and a net margin of 35.71%.The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be issued a $0.91 dividend. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

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.