Affinity Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 264 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Affinity Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,808 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 0.8% of Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Affinity Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 40,290.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,695,303 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,528,950,000 after purchasing an additional 46,579,693 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after purchasing an additional 11,600,470 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $510.05 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 52-week low of $344.79 and a 52-week high of $514.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $477.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $428.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 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 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $530.00 price target (up from $482.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $581.00 price target (up previously from $512.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $541.79.

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.