Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 262,500 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 53.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 751,919 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 262,500 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 2.7% of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $316,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. WFA Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% in the 3rd quarter. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 2,659 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 18,378 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $7,908,000 after purchasing an additional 730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at about $466,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $463.00, for a total transaction of $1,389,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 43,930 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,339,590. This trade represents a 6.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock valued at $60,224,683. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Westpark Capital restated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Microsoft from $550.00 to $595.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.57.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.4%

MSFT opened at $470.92 on Wednesday. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $344.79 and a 12 month high of $473.43. 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 has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $420.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $417.46.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 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.