Albion Financial Group UT Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Albion Financial Group UT increased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 138,381 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 3.7% of Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $51,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,096,913,000 after purchasing an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

MSFT opened at $529.24 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $499.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $439.35. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 period last year, the business posted $2.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,481,631. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MSFT. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $490.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $530.00 to $582.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on Microsoft from $605.00 to $613.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.