Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Stock Holdings Lifted by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 31.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 297,246 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 71,491 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.5% of Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $85,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Gleason Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 111.7% in the first quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 199 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Syverson Strege & Co raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 157.0% during the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 203 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.20% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

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

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $328.66 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $332.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $308.33. The company has a market cap 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.77. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78.

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

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a $0.68 dividend. 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

MSFT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $320.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. UBS Group raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $340.00 to $400.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 18th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $360.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $373.68.

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.