Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,586 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,184 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $4,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth approximately $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $408.43 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $428.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $422.92. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $385.58 and a 1 year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group dropped their target price on Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.