Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Waterloo Capital L.P.

Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,342 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,841 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 1.7% of Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marsico Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Marsico Capital Management LLC now owns 698,236 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $312,077,000 after purchasing an additional 21,156 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.4% in the second quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 3,788,765 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,693,389,000 after buying an additional 124,105 shares during the last quarter. Zega Financial LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 40.7% during the second quarter. Zega Financial LLC now owns 32,301 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $14,437,000 after buying an additional 9,339 shares during the period. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc boosted its stake in Microsoft by 6.8% during the second quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 22,643 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,120,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 10.9% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 773,105 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $343,326,000 after acquiring an additional 75,914 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho raised their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total value of $1,027,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,552,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 17,378 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.85, for a total transaction of $7,157,129.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 150,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,843,807.85. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of Microsoft stock opened at $408.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $353.35 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $420.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $424.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Microsoft declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to buyback $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the software giant to buy up to 1.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.