Lingohr Asset Management GmbH Purchases 1,279 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Lingohr Asset Management GmbH increased its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,159 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,279 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 2.8% of Lingohr Asset Management GmbH’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MSFT. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 34,643.3% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 16,837,278 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,096,913,000 after acquiring an additional 16,788,816 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 76.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 10,532,402 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,439,407,000 after acquiring an additional 4,568,539 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 165,024,812 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,790,682,000 after acquiring an additional 3,264,648 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 43,900.4% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 2,042,499 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $860,913,000 after acquiring an additional 2,037,857 shares during the period. 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 Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $403.62 and its 200-day moving average is $414.03.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. The business had revenue of $70.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In related news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total value of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,906,221.80. The trade was a 14.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 131,743 shares of company stock valued at $58,375,673 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Microsoft from $502.00 to $512.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $480.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.13.

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.