Chicago Capital LLC Acquires 61,948 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Chicago Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 52.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 181,170 shares of the software giant’s stock after buying an additional 61,948 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 2.5% of Chicago Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Chicago Capital LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $68,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MSFT. Monumental Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 534.5% in the second quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC now owns 184 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at $601,000. Hibernia Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the third quarter valued at $69,000. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 89.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 223 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.8 %

MSFT stock opened at $404.27 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $415.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $384.29. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $275.37 and a 12 month high of $430.82.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 30th. The software giant reported $2.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.76 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $62.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $61.14 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.27% and a return on equity of 38.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.32 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be issued a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.78, for a total transaction of $18,530,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 574,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $236,414,839.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,070,258 shares of company stock valued at $30,690,456 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MSFT. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $480.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Macquarie raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $430.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Microsoft from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $432.13.

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.