Sanders Morris Harris LLC Raises Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 53.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,548 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 4,741 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.1% of Sanders Morris Harris LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Sanders Morris Harris LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Microsoft by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.2 %

MSFT stock traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $452.85. The stock had a trading volume of 14,330,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,878,250. The firm has a market cap of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $456.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $422.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $408.83.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. Microsoft's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MSFT. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Macquarie increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $467.12.

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.