Sapient Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 633,184 shares of the software giant's stock after buying an additional 6,959 shares during the quarter. Microsoft accounts for approximately 5.1% of Sapient Capital LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Sapient Capital LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $266,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. BCK Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Microsoft by 1.8% during the third quarter. BCK Partners Inc. now owns 1,353 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Muirfield Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,427 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,866,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sequent Asset Management LLC now owns 1,983 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $853,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cypress Point Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,380,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riverstone Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC now owns 4,510 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Microsoft Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT traded up $7.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $388.45. 23,826,330 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,250,515. The company's fifty day moving average is $391.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $414.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $344.79 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.00.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $2.93 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Westpark Capital started coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Microsoft from $525.00 to $510.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $520.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $505.41.

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.