Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Boosts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 47,071 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 1,109 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 1.8% of Nicolet Advisory Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $19,721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Martin Worley Group purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $1,330,000. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 215,217 shares of the software giant's stock worth $90,724,000 after purchasing an additional 5,829 shares in the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $2,145,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 59.9% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 25,232 shares of the software giant's stock worth $10,636,000 after purchasing an additional 9,457 shares during the period. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,965,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $470.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $344.79 and a 1 year high of $473.34. The company's fifty day moving average is $417.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $416.68.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total transaction of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 476,999 shares in the company, valued at $207,995,413.95. The trade was a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total transaction of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 47,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683 over the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $513.59.

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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