Breakwater Investment Management Buys New Stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Breakwater Investment Management bought a new position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 27,295 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $11,484,000. Microsoft comprises about 5.3% of Breakwater Investment Management's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MSFT. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Richardson Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1,290.0% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Capital Management LLC now owns 139 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in Microsoft by 47.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 188 shares of the software giant's stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $1.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $416.79. The stock had a trading volume of 18,464,309 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,894,881. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.09, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $435.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $422.88. Microsoft Co. has a twelve month low of $309.45 and a twelve month high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.05. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.69 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's payout ratio is 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $494.72.

Insider Activity

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at $19,686,433. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

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.