Empirical Finance LLC Increases Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 262,432 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 5,792 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 6.6% of Empirical Finance LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Empirical Finance LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $112,924,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 169.2% in the second quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Microsoft by 10.1% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

NASDAQ MSFT traded down $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $428.50. 25,848,817 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 19,069,188. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $429.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $425.92. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MSFT. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Microsoft from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.93.

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.