3,375 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Acquired by Maiden Cove Capital LLC

Maiden Cove Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,375 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,542,000. Microsoft makes up about 3.1% of Maiden Cove Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Microsoft by 169.2% during the 2nd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 70 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft in the second quarter worth about $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $145,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

MSFT stock traded up $10.36 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $426.03. 8,688,458 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,715,867. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $429.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.72. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $384.81 and a 1 year high of $468.35. The company has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.99 EPS. Microsoft's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $511.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of Microsoft 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. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.