FSM Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 1,792 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 23,198 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,792 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 2.0% of FSM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $8,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Fosun International Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the first quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the period. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,385,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,811,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $520.17 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $555.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.35. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $502.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $441.01. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The firm had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.34%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 4,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $527.32, for a total transaction of $2,557,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,624,012.52. This represents a 11.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 46,350 shares of company stock worth $21,493,447. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $540.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $609.86.

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.