Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Morse Asset Management Inc

Morse Asset Management Inc raised its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 42.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 67,459 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,116 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises about 6.3% of Morse Asset Management Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $29,028,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Microsoft by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 227,715 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $95,797,000 after purchasing an additional 42,045 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 28.2% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 138,242 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $59,245,000 after purchasing an additional 30,380 shares during the last quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Microsoft by 3.5% during the third quarter. Intrepid Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,218 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,815,000 after buying an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Independent Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 62.1% during the third quarter. Independent Family Office LLC now owns 4,360 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $1,870,000 after buying an additional 1,670 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 256,084 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $110,193,000 after acquiring an additional 2,901 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock opened at $415.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $385.58 and a 52-week high of $468.35. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $431.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $423.85.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total value of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on Microsoft from $510.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Microsoft currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

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.