Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Harrell Investment Partners LLC

Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,730 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 4.6% of Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,940,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Monumental Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% during the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth approximately $69,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth approximately $83,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $404.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $415.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $384.29. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The firm had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total value of $18,530,100.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total transaction of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $460.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $432.13.

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.