Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Clarius Group LLC’s Largest Position

Clarius Group LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 308,675 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 9,061 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 9.6% of Clarius Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $116,074,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC now owns 45,685 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $17,179,000 after buying an additional 1,215 shares during the last quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Adamsbrown Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 5,433 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the period. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,570 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $966,000 after purchasing an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Genesee Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,148 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,064,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Finally, Cook Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. Cook Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,069,000 after buying an additional 2,434 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $452.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were 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 owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

MSFT stock opened at $410.54 on Thursday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $306.26 and a one year high of $430.82. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $413.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $392.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.