Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Purchases 4,566 Shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,010 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,566 shares during the quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Diversified LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Diversified LLC now owns 16,003 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,886,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the period. Mirabella Financial Services LLP grew its holdings in Microsoft by 43.5% during the third quarter. Mirabella Financial Services LLP now owns 14,699 shares of the software giant's stock worth $6,198,000 after acquiring an additional 4,455 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its position in Microsoft by 3.7% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 314,839 shares of the software giant's stock worth $135,475,000 after acquiring an additional 11,215 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 71.0% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 15,555 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $6,693,000 after acquiring an additional 6,459 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 9.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,799,582 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $774,360,000 after acquiring an additional 153,123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT stock traded up $1.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $412.37. The company had a trading volume of 20,472,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 23,122,607. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $432.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $424.21. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $385.58 and a one year high of $468.35. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.20, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.93 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. The trade was a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last 90 days. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Oppenheimer cut Microsoft from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $425.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.96.

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.