Sar Wealth Management Group LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sar Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 49.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,271 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,411 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 1.6% of Sar Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,797,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after buying an additional 5,762,902 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,591,126,000 after buying an additional 277,881 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

Microsoft stock opened at $460.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $461.02. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $427.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $411.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MSFT. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 price objective (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Macquarie increased their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.