Park Avenue Securities LLC Buys 36,889 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 18.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 238,354 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,889 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 1.0% of Park Avenue Securities LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $100,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth about $45,000. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $141,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $430.87, for a total transaction of $1,077,175.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 53,852 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,203,211.24. This represents a 4.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock worth $3,493,820. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.0 %

Microsoft stock opened at $404.00 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $424.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $423.08. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month 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, topping 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 period last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 0.82%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

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.