Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Value Partners Investments Inc.

Value Partners Investments Inc. raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 104.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 177,554 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,549 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.5% of Value Partners Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $66,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter worth $87,000. Family CFO Inc grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 647.8% in the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth about $146,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MSFT. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $452.61.

Microsoft Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.66 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $303.40 and a 1-year high of $430.82. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $413.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $390.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.81 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The business’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at $22,770,926.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 159,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.