Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd Acquires New Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 8,008 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $3,375,000. Microsoft accounts for approximately 1.5% of Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 27.0% in the 1st quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 1,016 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 12,658 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Nicholas Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Nicholas Investment Partners LP now owns 39,743 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,164 shares during the period. NRI Wealth Management LC acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,863,000. Finally, Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fairbanks Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,610 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $4,295,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $7.88 on Friday, reaching $408.25. The stock had a trading volume of 27,440,364 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,130,024. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $425.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.69. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,080,578.32. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,000 shares of company stock valued at $3,493,820. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.