Puff Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Puff Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,026 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the quarter. Puff Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $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 position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Westpark Capital reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $534.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 476,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $505.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $473.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $426.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $508.30.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.66%.

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.