494,836 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 494,836 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $186,078,000. Microsoft accounts for 5.8% of Sapient Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sicart Associates LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Sicart Associates LLC now owns 926 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,592 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,866 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the period. Triton Wealth Management PLLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Triton Wealth Management PLLC now owns 5,864 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,167,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 2,191 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $692,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Microsoft from $465.00 to $489.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $465.00 target price (up previously from $455.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price objective 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $409.34 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $306.09 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $413.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $392.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $61.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.45 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.97%.

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.