Warther Private Wealth LLC Has $15.77 Million Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,272 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,634 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises 6.2% of Warther Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Warther Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $15,765,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 667,987,038 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $281,035,506,000 after acquiring an additional 3,078,099 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth about $35,920,047,000. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.0% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 83,571,070 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $35,160,020,000 after buying an additional 842,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 25,505,600 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,591,126,000 after buying an additional 277,881 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,381,692 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,544,532,000 after buying an additional 403,409 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total value of $6,009,869.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,473,703.53. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 14,398 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.41, for a total transaction of $6,009,869.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 786,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $328,473,703.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $417.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $431.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $422.69. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $309.45 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MSFT. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $520.00 to $510.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. New Street Research began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $494.72.

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.