Spear Holdings RSC Ltd Invests $81.24 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Spear Holdings RSC Ltd purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 193,100 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $81,241,000. Microsoft makes up approximately 14.1% of Spear Holdings RSC Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Breakwater Capital Group grew its position in Microsoft by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 17,621 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,987,000 after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 69,841 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $26,263,000 after buying an additional 2,830 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 2,029,326 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $763,108,000 after buying an additional 29,925 shares during the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 18,215 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,965,000 after buying an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 32.6% during the 4th quarter. RWQ Financial Management Services Inc. now owns 31,864 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $11,982,000 after acquiring an additional 7,841 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $416.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $435.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.82. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MSFT shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $494.72.

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.