Q3 Asset Management Purchases New Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Q3 Asset Management purchased a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 5,659 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,130,000. Microsoft comprises about 0.5% of Q3 Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at about $87,000. Family CFO Inc lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 13.6% in the third quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its position in Microsoft by 647.8% during the 4th quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 344 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $129,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, March 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $415.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Macquarie upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.4 %

Microsoft stock opened at $412.32 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $306.26 and a 12-month high of $430.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $413.90 and a 200 day moving average of $392.17.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 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 firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.45 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 17.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of Microsoft 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 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. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.