50,295 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Purchased by Weiss Asset Management LP

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 50,295 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $21,642,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.1% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant's stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new position in Microsoft during the second quarter worth about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade represents a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,000 shares of company stock worth $14,333,540 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MSFT shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Truist Financial reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $510.96.

Microsoft Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:MSFT traded down $2.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $409.04. The company had a trading volume of 19,097,630 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,227,117. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $430.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $423.24. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week 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.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company earned $2.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.73%.

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.