Ceeto Capital Group LLC Increases Position in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Ceeto Capital Group LLC increased its stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,555 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 4.2% of Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Ceeto Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $10,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 47.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 180 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. NWI Management LP grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 196.2% in the 1st quarter. NWI Management LP now owns 385,000 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $161,977,000 after buying an additional 255,000 shares during the last quarter. Bamco Inc. NY grew its position in shares of Microsoft by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 586,917 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $246,928,000 after buying an additional 46,915 shares during the last quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 12.9% during the first quarter. Manhattan West Asset Management LLC now owns 47,265 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $19,885,000 after acquiring an additional 5,416 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.6% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 771,182 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $324,452,000 after acquiring an additional 73,936 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $485.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $480.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, April 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $485.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research initiated coverage on Microsoft in a research note on Monday, June 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $570.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $494.72.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 104,949 shares in the company, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 322 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $416.60, for a total transaction of $134,145.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,255 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,686,433. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,566 shares of company stock valued at $10,877,535 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Shares of MSFT opened at $418.47 on Monday. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $309.45 and a one year high of $468.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $436.72 and a 200 day moving average of $422.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $64.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.38 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.96% and a return on equity of 35.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.69 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.04 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

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

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.