apricus wealth LLC Purchases 443 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

apricus wealth LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.7% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,232 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $250,032,357,000 after purchasing an additional 15,701,937 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter worth about $5,587,119,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Microsoft by 77.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 6,281,925 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,642,931,000 after buying an additional 2,744,900 shares during the period. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the first quarter worth about $989,814,000. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,552,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 190,629 shares of company stock valued at $77,916,485. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MSFT. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 target price on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $493.94.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $430.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $311.21 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $419.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $425.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.69 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Monday, September 16th that permits the company to buyback $60.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the software giant to purchase up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 28.74%.

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.