Persium Advisors LLC Takes $924,000 Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Persium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,192 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $924,000. Microsoft makes up about 0.9% of Persium Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,636 shares of the software giant's stock worth $8,698,000 after buying an additional 477 shares in the last quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Elmwood Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,560 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,765,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co increased its stake in Microsoft by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co now owns 37,445 shares of the software giant's stock worth $15,783,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 73,519 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $30,988,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 43,139 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $18,183,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of Microsoft stock traded down $7.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $408.25. 27,440,364 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 22,515,041. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $425.98 and a 200-day moving average of $422.79. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft's payout ratio is 26.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.96.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 56,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.