Vinva Investment Management Ltd Acquires 15,548 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 332,408 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,548 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 5.5% of Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $141,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the fourth quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Avondale Wealth Management boosted its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the fourth quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $141,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Down 1.0%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $450.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $402.37 and its 200-day moving average is $413.85. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $68.54 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.74%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on MSFT shares. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI set a $515.00 price target on Microsoft and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America cut their price target on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday. Four equities research 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, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $453.77, for a total transaction of $9,756,055.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 134,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total value of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock worth $58,375,673. 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.