734 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bought by Praetorian Wealth Management Inc.

Praetorian Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 734 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Morris Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 2,663 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Innova Wealth Partners grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 4,239 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Arkansas Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,719 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $646,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Partnership Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,202 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,609,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 6,481 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,727,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm's 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 directly 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,964 shares of company stock valued at $6,245,404. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6 %

MSFT stock traded up $2.52 on Thursday, hitting $413.12. 17,033,860 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,745,158. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The business's fifty day moving average is $432.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors 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 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Argus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Macquarie lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $494.72.

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.