Live Oak Investment Partners Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Live Oak Investment Partners boosted its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 115.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,903 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 3,705 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.2% of Live Oak Investment Partners' portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Live Oak Investment Partners' holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,910,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its position in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $10.53 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $449.26. The stock had a trading volume of 22,794,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,459,838. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $389.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $411.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson increased their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $507.77.

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.