Proem Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Proem Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 25,000 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $10,538,000. Microsoft comprises approximately 2.8% of Proem Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded down $3.91 on Friday, reaching $474.96. 16,787,782 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,485,134. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $480.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $425.64 and a 200 day moving average of $418.26.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MSFT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Microsoft from $515.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho increased their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $515.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. The trade was a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. The trade was a 6.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Microsoft

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.