Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by apricus wealth LLC

apricus wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 15.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,013 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,057 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of apricus wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sicart Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after buying an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,256 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $712,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Sonen Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sonen Capital LLC now owns 10,132 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,199,000 after buying an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perritt Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc. now owns 937 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total transaction of $1,341,414.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock opened at $399.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $414.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $384.83.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.32 earnings per share. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

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.