Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Purchases 745 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,681 shares of the software giant's stock after acquiring an additional 745 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.5% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI's holdings in Microsoft were worth $18,833,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after buying an additional 4,568,539 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after buying an additional 3,264,648 shares in the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $3,032,859,000 after buying an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after buying an additional 2,125,030 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $436.05, for a total value of $32,703,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 476,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $207,995,413.95. This represents a 13.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.0%

Microsoft stock traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $453.13. The company had a trading volume of 21,913,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,510,806. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $392.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $412.14. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. 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, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Westpark Capital reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial lifted 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. TD Securities lifted their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $490.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $509.16.

Microsoft 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.