Private Ocean LLC Acquires 355 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Private Ocean LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,060 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 0.9% of Private Ocean LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest position. Private Ocean LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $9,424,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 82,267 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,976,000 after acquiring an additional 3,209 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Microsoft by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 470,301 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $148,497,000 after acquiring an additional 5,366 shares in the last quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,967,000 after acquiring an additional 6,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its holdings in Microsoft by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,471 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 3,303 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $406.12, for a total value of $1,341,414.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 570,826 shares in the company, valued at $231,823,855.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $399.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.22. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $414.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $385.79. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.32 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on MSFT. KeyCorp began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $432.13.

Microsoft 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.