Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) is Altarock Partners LP’s 3rd Largest Position

Altarock Partners LP cut its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,754,186 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 236,528 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up approximately 15.9% of Altarock Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Altarock Partners LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $738,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $281,035,506,000 after buying an additional 3,078,099 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after purchasing an additional 842,884 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,625,201,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,591,126,000 after purchasing an additional 277,881 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSFT opened at $416.79 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $309.45 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $435.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $422.70.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.38 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.69 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $495.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 18th. New Street Research began coverage on Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $506.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Two 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, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.