Microsoft Corporation $MSFT is Columbus Hill Capital Management L.P.’s 6th Largest Position

Columbus Hill Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 96,404 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,466 shares during the period. Microsoft accounts for about 6.9% of Columbus Hill Capital Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Columbus Hill Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $47,952,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% during the 2nd quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Bulwark Capital Corp acquired a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Microsoft by 386.7% during the second quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. University of Illinois Foundation acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $19,967,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 461,597 shares in the company, valued at $239,402,668.08. This trade represents a 7.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock worth $27,598,872 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Baird R W upgraded Microsoft to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $650.00 to $625.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Microsoft from $640.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $710.00 to $730.00 in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Microsoft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-seven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $632.34.

Microsoft Stock Down 2.7%

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $478.56 on Thursday. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $555.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $505.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $501.98. The stock has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

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.