Certior Financial Group LLC Takes $833,000 Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,976 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $833,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% during the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $515.68.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MSFT traded down $3.91 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $474.96. 16,804,288 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,485,191. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $480.42. The company has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.24, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $425.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $418.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total transaction of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,481,631. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares in the company, valued at $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.