Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stake Lifted by Capital Wealth Alliance LLC

Capital Wealth Alliance LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 33.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,190 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 1.0% of Capital Wealth Alliance LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Capital Wealth Alliance LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the first quarter valued at $80,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Microsoft from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho upped their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $414.01 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $309.45 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $437.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.