Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Acquired by Metis Global Partners LLC

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 418,563 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 10,716 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.6% of Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $180,108,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its holdings 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 worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at $45,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft during the 2nd quarter worth $75,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft in the second quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $4.45 on Monday, reaching $429.03. 26,146,013 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The business's 50 day moving average price is $429.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $426.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $385.58 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The business had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.99 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. Microsoft's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Loop Capital increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $512.93.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the firm'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 owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total value of $3,050,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company's stock, valued at $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.