Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. Invests $6.82 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 18,125 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $6,816,000. Microsoft makes up 5.4% of Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Microsoft by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,103 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Avity Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.1% during the third quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 117,111 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,641 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.6% in the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,887 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 11,439 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,612,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 4,218 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,332,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Microsoft from $455.00 to $465.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. BNP Paribas raised Microsoft from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $471.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on Microsoft from $421.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $455.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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 Microsoft stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now 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 available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value 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 $64,538,265.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $410.54 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $413.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $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 Co. has a 1 year low of $306.26 and a 1 year high of $430.82.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 25.97%.

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.