Davis Investment Partners LLC Purchases 489 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Davis Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,170 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 489 shares during the period. Davis Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BCK Partners Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC now owns 6,986 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 2,997 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,290,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $853,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total transaction of $423,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $416.13 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $425.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $422.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

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.