Safir Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 326 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Safir Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 47.9% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,006 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 0.3% of Safir Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Safir Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,528,950,000 after buying an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after buying an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after purchasing an additional 10,431,988 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $498.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $461.41 and its 200 day moving average is $423.67. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $500.76.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 32.74% and a net margin of 35.79%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $494.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup upped their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $524.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total value of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.