Range Financial Group LLC Acquires 257 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Range Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,371 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 160.7% during the fourth quarter. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. now owns 232 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $87,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $446.95 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $456.17. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $424.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $409.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.