Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Raised by Capasso Planning Partners LLC

Capasso Planning Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,451 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.0% of Capasso Planning Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Capasso Planning Partners LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $2,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,625,201,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 28,987,007 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $9,152,647,000 after acquiring an additional 2,456,190 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the 4th quarter worth $679,928,000. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 9.2% during the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 21,375,375 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $6,749,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,796,956 shares during the period. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total transaction of $1,950,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,677,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,770,926.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Kathleen T. Hogan sold 21,955 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $403.96, for a total value of $8,868,941.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 159,764 shares in the company, valued at $64,538,265.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Corp Microsoft sold 1,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.95, for a total value of $1,950,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,677,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,770,926.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $406.66 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Microsoft Co. has a 1 year low of $303.40 and a 1 year high of $430.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $413.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $390.88.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a return on equity of 37.54% and a net margin of 36.43%. The company had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.86 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 11.76 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 25.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MSFT. Raymond James reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price target (up previously from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $480.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $490.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $452.61.

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.