Ipsen Advisor Group LLC Invests $1.30 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,083 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,300,000. Microsoft accounts for 1.1% of Ipsen Advisor Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Summitry LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 141,384 shares of the software giant's stock worth $59,593,000 after purchasing an additional 2,413 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,891,000. BG Investment Services Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,000. Momentous Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,769,000. Finally, Aire Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 13,099 shares of the software giant's stock worth $5,521,000 after acquiring an additional 309 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This trade represents a 2.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 132,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,835,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.45 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $464.42. 7,698,971 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,424,473. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The business has a 50 day moving average of $411.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $415.62.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MSFT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 target price on Microsoft and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $513.13.

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.