Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Bought by Waterloo Capital L.P.

Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 9.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,342 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,841 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up about 1.7% of Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $14,455,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Atwater Malick LLC boosted its position in Microsoft by 10.3% during the first quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 17,476 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $7,353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,639 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Microsoft by 4.3% during the 1st quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,169 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,858,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Asio Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 29,812 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $12,543,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Microsoft by 27.6% in the 1st quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 19,774 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $8,319,000 after acquiring an additional 4,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Microsoft by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Silverleafe Capital Partners LLC now owns 7,157 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $3,011,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MSFT has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America increased their target price on Microsoft from $480.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Microsoft from $500.00 to $495.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $470.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Microsoft from $506.00 to $548.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $503.03.

Microsoft Price Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $408.46 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.70, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $420.59 and a 200-day moving average of $424.74. Microsoft Co. has a 52-week low of $353.35 and a 52-week high of $468.35.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.10 by $0.20. Microsoft had a return on equity of 34.56% and a net margin of 35.61%. The company had revenue of $65.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $64.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.99 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.98 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 21st will be given a $0.83 dividend. This is an increase from Microsoft’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 21st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Microsoft announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 16th that authorizes the company to repurchase $60.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the software giant to reacquire up to 1.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total value of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at approximately $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.04, for a total transaction of $1,027,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 50,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,552,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Satya Nadella sold 78,353 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $408.63, for a total transaction of $32,017,386.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 864,327 shares in the company, valued at $353,189,942.01. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 190,629 shares of company stock worth $77,916,485 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

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.