Weitz Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Weitz Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 24.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,500 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Weitz Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $21,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $345.00 to $400.00 in a research note on Friday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $350.00 to $385.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $411.00 to $433.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and set a $232.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $330.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $373.68.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 588,084 shares in the company, valued at $198,301,924.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 38,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $328.43, for a total transaction of $12,557,192.62. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 800,668 shares in the company, valued at $262,963,391.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,049 shares of company stock worth $38,195,619. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $334.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $332.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.17. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $213.43 and a one year high of $366.78. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The software giant reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $56.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 34.15% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 10.9 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 16th. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.07%.

Microsoft Company 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.