Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd Has $6.34 Million Holdings in Microsoft Corporation $MSFT

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd boosted its stake in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 833.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,745 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 11,380 shares during the quarter. Microsoft makes up 4.4% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $6,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Forsta AP Fonden grew its position in Microsoft by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 1,864,200 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $927,272,000 after purchasing an additional 14,000 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,214,539 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,593,764,000 after buying an additional 874,638 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 763,276 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $379,661,000 after buying an additional 27,231 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the second quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC now owns 9,517 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $4,734,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turn8 Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.8% during the second quarter. Turn8 Private Wealth Inc. now owns 11,423 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $5,770,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $483.16 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $507.29 and its 200-day moving average is $500.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 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 company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. Microsoft’s revenue was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 38,500 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the company’s 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 owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim set a $675.00 price objective on Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $639.00 target price on Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $630.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $675.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird assumed coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, November 14th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Microsoft presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.33.

Microsoft Company 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.