5,916 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Optivise Advisory Services LLC

Optivise Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,916 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,546,000. Microsoft comprises about 1.3% of Optivise Advisory Services LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $75,000. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.24.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded down $27.34 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $414.99. 53,865,877 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,496,486. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $385.58 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.24, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $432.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $424.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

About Microsoft

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.