Center For Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Free Report) by 98.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,418 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,183 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.7% of Center For Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Center For Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% in the 1st quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $57,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% in the 1st quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 57.5% in the 3rd quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 411 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 69.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MSFT shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Loop Capital started coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $425.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $385.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on Microsoft from $371.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $384.34.
Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %
Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $329.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $213.43 and a 52-week high of $366.78. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $326.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $324.11. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.91.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The software giant reported $2.99 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.65 by $0.34. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.79% and a net margin of 35.31%. The business had revenue of $56.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Increases Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 16th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.33%.
Insider Activity
In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 198,373 shares in the company, valued at $64,941,369.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 26,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $327.37, for a total value of $8,778,426.55. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 198,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,941,369.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
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.
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