apricus wealth LLC Raises Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

apricus wealth LLC raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,013 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,057 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 2.3% of apricus wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. apricus wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. DGS Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 19.9% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 14,342 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,422,000 after buying an additional 2,383 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 20.8% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 1,138,469 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $351,001,000 after buying an additional 196,338 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% during the first quarter. Altus Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,712 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,919,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Powell Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.2% during the first quarter. Powell Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 359 shares during the period. Finally, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 8.2% during the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,782 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,921,000 after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock worth $30,690,456. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $399.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $414.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $384.83. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $275.37 and a 52 week high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the subject of several research reports. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $455.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Macquarie boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

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.