Beck Bode LLC Has $12.25 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Beck Bode LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4,609.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,104 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,486 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for 2.5% of Beck Bode LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Beck Bode LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $12,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% in the first quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $416.79 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $435.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $422.70. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35. The firm 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted 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. Macquarie upped their price objective on Microsoft from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 17th. Finally, Argus lifted their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

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.