Clarus Wealth Advisors Raises Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Clarus Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,648 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Clarus Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,522,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 19,610 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its holdings in Microsoft by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 58,599 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $24,703,000 after purchasing an additional 15,206 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 238,354 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $100,466,000 after purchasing an additional 36,889 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 28,100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $11,844,000 after purchasing an additional 5,325 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,439,407,000 after purchasing an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $520.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $404.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $424.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $423.08. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.48, for a total value of $423,480.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 56,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,931,278.28. This trade represents a 1.74 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820 in the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.