Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Purchases 6,593 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 193,765 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 6,593 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 7.0% of Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt's holdings in Microsoft were worth $72,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the third quarter worth about $87,000. Family CFO Inc increased its position in Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant's stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 647.8% in the fourth quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant's stock worth $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MSFT shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Macquarie upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $480.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $454.70.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $0.78 on Friday, reaching $420.21. The company had a trading volume of 15,334,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,473,953. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $430.82. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $414.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $395.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.38, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.45 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

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.