WCM Investment Management LLC Acquires 8,525 Shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,917,245 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,525 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for 1.9% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. WCM Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $726,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Microsoft by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 684,071,705 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $288,336,224,000 after buying an additional 10,431,988 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 168,128,024 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,720,874,000 after buying an additional 3,103,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,343,058,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Microsoft by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 83,787,746 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $35,316,535,000 after buying an additional 11,600,470 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 59,961,337 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $25,273,704,000 after buying an additional 5,370,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were 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 owned 134,888 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $61,208,127.76. This trade represents a 13.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,350 shares of company stock valued at $21,493,447. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $520.17 on Friday. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $502.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $441.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The company had revenue of $76.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.95 EPS. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 21st. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is 24.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $609.86.

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.