NWI Management LP Has $161.98 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

NWI Management LP boosted its position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 196.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 385,000 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 255,000 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 4.9% of NWI Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. NWI Management LP’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $161,977,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MSFT. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Microsoft by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 139,655 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $52,516,000 after buying an additional 15,554 shares in the last quarter. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Microsoft by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Zimmermann Investment Management & Planning LLC now owns 9,013 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank raised its holdings in Microsoft by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 27,081 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $10,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,957 shares in the last quarter. Snider Financial Group lifted its position in Microsoft by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 21,059 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,919,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 44,644 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,788,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $600.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $526.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $494.72.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Microsoft news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total value of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total transaction of $101,389.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MSFT opened at $418.47 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $436.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $422.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $64.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a return on equity of 35.95% and a net margin of 35.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.69 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.97%.

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.