Acadian Asset Management LLC Buys 1,120,493 Shares of Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 60.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,989,189 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,120,493 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 3.1% of Acadian Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $1,486,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Microsoft by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 342 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 5.9% in the second quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 359 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $178,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Seek First Inc. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.5% in the second quarter. Seek First Inc. now owns 1,358 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Level Financial Advisors increased its position in Microsoft by 0.8% during the second quarter. Level Financial Advisors now owns 2,680 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,333,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Red Mountain Financial LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Red Mountain Financial LLC now owns 2,761 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Microsoft from $637.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Microsoft from $640.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $650.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 price target on Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $518.64, for a total value of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 461,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $239,402,668.08. This represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at $63,577,620.48. The trade was a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $480.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.07. Microsoft Corporation has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $507.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $500.78.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $77.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be given a $0.91 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.89%.

Microsoft 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.