Microsoft Corporation $MSFT Shares Bought by Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 94,120 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 3.5% of Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $46,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,506,229 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,744,033,000 after purchasing an additional 18,207 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 21.4% during the second quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 855,387 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $425,478,000 after purchasing an additional 150,615 shares during the period. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 51.5% in the second quarter. Alpha Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,357 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after buying an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 7.0% in the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,741,841 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,824,922,000 after buying an additional 1,163,178 shares during the period. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust grew its position in Microsoft by 11.1% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 57,693 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $28,697,000 after buying an additional 5,780 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $480.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $507.85 and its 200 day moving average is $500.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. 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 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a dividend of $0.91 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.89%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total transaction of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird started coverage on Microsoft in a report on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $625.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, August 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.33.

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.