Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Twin Capital Management Inc.

Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 131,973 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 4,437 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 6.1% of Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $55,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the first quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the second 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 during the period. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 410.4% during the third 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 during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.4% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 40,586 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $17,464,000 after purchasing an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Allocation Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Allocation Strategies LLC now owns 705 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $478.87 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $425.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $418.26. Microsoft Co. has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $480.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.56, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. The firm 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.66%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $460.01, for a total value of $460,010.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 47,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,647,150.58. This represents a 2.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of the company’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 transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at approximately $204,038,664.12. This represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 135,743 shares of company stock worth $60,224,683. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Westpark Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $513.89.

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.