Avitas Wealth Management LLC Buys 220 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,464 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 5.3% of Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $31,762,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sicart Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth 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 increased its position in Microsoft by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares during the period. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Navis Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,507 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Kaizen Financial Strategies now owns 7,807 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,936,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $480.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $452.61.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $406.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.74, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $414.48 and its 200 day moving average is $387.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $295.25 and a one year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date 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.