Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by &Partners

&Partners lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 69.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,874 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,691 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.1% of &Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. &Partners’ holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MSFT. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $58,000. PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Cooksen Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $86,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $87,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $452.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $309.45 and a 52 week high of $456.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $422.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $408.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.45 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Macquarie upped their price target on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. New Street Research started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target for the company. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $467.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 over the last ninety days. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.