Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Opus Capital Group LLC

Opus Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 8.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,725 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the period. Opus Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $59,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooksen Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total value of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $520.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, March 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $467.12.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded up $4.78 on Friday, hitting $465.55. 5,802,740 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,650,561. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $428.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.10. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $467.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.45 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.