Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 162,799 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 4,161 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises approximately 5.7% of Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Microsoft were worth $69,982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cable Hill Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.7% during the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 22,293 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $9,593,000 after buying an additional 1,980 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bell Bank now owns 34,284 shares of the software giant's stock worth $14,752,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 9.8% during the third quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 2,800 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,205,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Microsoft by 64.6% in the third quarter. Schrum Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,296 shares of the software giant's stock worth $12,606,000 after purchasing an additional 11,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd raised its stake in Microsoft by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd now owns 106,581 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $45,862,000 after buying an additional 8,258 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.
Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %
Microsoft stock traded up $4.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $429.03. The stock had a trading volume of 26,146,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,227,436. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $429.32 and a 200 day moving average of $426.37. The firm has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.99 EPS. Microsoft's revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Microsoft Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Friday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $509.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $512.93.
Read Our Latest Research Report on Microsoft
Insider Transactions at Microsoft
In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at $48,911,598. This trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Microsoft
(
Free Report)
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.
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