Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,384,105 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 247,762 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up about 4.7% of Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $788,158,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 71.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 132 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $82,000. Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in Microsoft by 58.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 406 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, Grayhawk Investment Strategies Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $104,000. 69.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group set a $285.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Microsoft from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Microsoft from $247.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $285.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $285.58.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $256.87 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $213.43 and a 1 year high of $315.95. The company has a market cap of $1.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.54, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.92. The company’s 50-day moving average is $247.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.07.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 24th. The software giant reported $2.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.27 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 33.05% and a return on equity of 39.87%. The firm had revenue of $52.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.17 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.48 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 9.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total value of $272,320.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 116,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,687,699.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Microsoft news, CMO Christopher C. Capossela sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.32, for a total value of $272,320.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 116,362 shares in the company, valued at $31,687,699.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 4,767 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.88, for a total transaction of $1,186,410.96. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 788,625 shares in the company, valued at $196,272,990. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,767 shares of company stock worth $1,728,111. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Company Profile

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Microsoft Corp. engages in the development and support of software, services, devices, and solutions. It operates through the following business segments: Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. The Productivity and Business Processes segment consists of Office Commercial (Office 365 subscriptions, the Office 365 portion of Microsoft 365 Commercial subscriptions, and Office licensed on-premises), Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Security and Compliance, and Skype for Business, Office Consumer, including Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other Office services, LinkedIn, including Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions, and Learning Solutions, Dynamics business solutions, including Dynamics 365, comprising a set of intelligent, cloud-based applications across ERP, CRM, Customer Insights, Power Apps, and Power Automate, and on-premises ERP and CRM applications.