Weaver Capital Management LLC Purchases 4,718 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 47.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,707 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,718 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.5% of Weaver Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Weaver Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,521,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 66.7% during the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 75 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, IFS Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 50.0% in the first 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. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $555.86.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $512.50 on Tuesday. Microsoft Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $518.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $484.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $432.22.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft 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.