Ascent Group LLC Buys 2,252 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ascent Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 87,272 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,252 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 3.2% of Ascent Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $36,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MSFT. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 9.5% during the first quarter. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC now owns 1,266,838 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $532,984,000 after buying an additional 109,431 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 3.0% during the first quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,585 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,508,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. QVR LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the first quarter worth $5,216,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC now owns 23,206 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,763,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 22.6% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,741 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $19,665,000 after buying an additional 8,604 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 17th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $421.53 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $436.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $422.56. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

About Microsoft

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.