Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC Invests $3.01 Million in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 6,044 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,006,000. Microsoft comprises 2.2% of Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Troy Asset Management Ltd increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the second quarter. Troy Asset Management Ltd now owns 853,554 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $424,566,000 after purchasing an additional 6,191 shares during the period. NWF Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter. NWF Advisory Services Inc. now owns 19,773 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,835,000 after buying an additional 2,472 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Capital Management LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. Prospera Capital Management LLC now owns 1,844 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. V. M. Manning & CO. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $1,258,000. Finally, American Trust boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.0% in the second quarter. American Trust now owns 38,118 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $18,960,000 after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. The trade was a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Arete Research boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a research report on Monday, October 27th. DZ Bank restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $640.00 price target on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Rothschild Redb downgraded Microsoft from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. 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.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $631.03.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

MSFT stock opened at $476.39 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The business’s 50 day moving average is $502.02 and its 200-day moving average is $502.89. Microsoft Corporation has a 1-year low of $344.79 and a 1-year high of $555.45. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.