Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Sold by Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,956 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 1,206 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for about 1.0% of Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $7,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant's stock worth $288,336,224,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant's stock worth $70,720,874,000 after acquiring an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant's stock worth $35,316,535,000 after acquiring an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant's stock worth $25,273,704,000 after acquiring an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $503.51 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $467.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Microsoft Corporation has a twelve month low of $344.79 and a twelve month high of $506.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.04.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.79% and a return on equity of 32.74%. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.94 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.66%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a "positive" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $527.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total value of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 134,888 shares of the company's stock, valued at $61,208,127.76. This represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 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. Insiders sold a total of 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.

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