Occidental Asset Management LLC Has $10.89 Million Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Occidental Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,949 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 2.3% of Occidental Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,886,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after purchasing an additional 2,383 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 20.8% in the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $351,001,000 after buying an additional 196,338 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,919,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Powell Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 16.2% in the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $795,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 8.2% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,921,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $421.90 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $415.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $382.55. 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 1 year low of $275.37 and a 1 year high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 38.40% and a net margin of 36.27%. The business’s revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.32 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 27.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $430.52.

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.