Clare Market Investments LLC Buys New Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Clare Market Investments LLC 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 93,388 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $39,363,000. Microsoft makes up 9.3% of Clare Market Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Microsoft during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 144.4% during the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter worth $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 43,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 94,243 shares of company stock worth $41,288,738. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Westpark Capital reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.16.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.3%

MSFT stock opened at $454.27 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $395.33 and its 200 day moving average is $412.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The firm has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.22 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

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.