Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 11,981 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,717 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,981 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.1% of Park Avenue Securities LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $88,232,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Financial Security Advisor Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Security Advisor Inc. now owns 27,270 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,255,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the period. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Gunderson Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,359,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 8,213 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Bayesian Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 60.1% in the 4th quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP now owns 48,500 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $18,238,000 after purchasing an additional 18,200 shares during the period. Finally, RNC Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. RNC Capital Management LLC now owns 69,053 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $25,967,000 after purchasing an additional 6,484 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $447.67 on Tuesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $309.45 and a 12 month high of $452.75. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $420.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $407.98.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $465.00 price target (up from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $467.12.

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.