Capital Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Capital Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,566 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $451,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 2.6% in the first quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 11,951 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,445,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Kalos Management Inc. bought a new position in Microsoft during the 1st quarter valued at about $159,000. Quilter Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 844,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $202,480,000 after acquiring an additional 11,563 shares during the last quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 117.2% in the first quarter. Premier Fund Managers Ltd now owns 85,364 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $24,250,000 after acquiring an additional 46,056 shares during the period. Finally, SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. SeaTown Holdings Pte. Ltd. now owns 200,299 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $48,036,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $328.66 on Friday. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $213.43 and a 52 week high of $366.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.92, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $332.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $307.81.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 28.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Microsoft from $425.00 to $420.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Microsoft from $350.00 to $415.00 in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $232.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $373.68.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.20, for a total transaction of $16,860,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at approximately $198,301,924.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.