Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Zimmer Partners LP

Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,800 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Zimmer Partners LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $5,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 4.1% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 1.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 47,229,125 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $20,322,513,000 after acquiring an additional 652,493 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 38,501,645 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,567,258,000 after acquiring an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 34,511,544 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $15,426,767,000 after acquiring an additional 97,075 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.3% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 27,904,450 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $12,007,285,000 after acquiring an additional 636,713 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:MSFT opened at $409.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 1-year low of $385.58 and a 1-year high of $468.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $431.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $423.56.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $2.93 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Microsoft Co. will post 13.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be given a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 26.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This represents a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $509.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $497.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, January 24th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Microsoft from $490.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Microsoft has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.