Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Position Increased by Seelaus Asset Management LLC

Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,508 shares of the software giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises approximately 3.4% of Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Seelaus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,661,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 48,526.1% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 38,422,466 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in Microsoft by 47,196.6% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 4,834,658 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Microsoft by 67.5% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,963,863 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $2,566,250,000 after acquiring an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 46.1% during the 3rd quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 7,048,244 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $3,032,859,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222,483 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Microsoft by 56.9% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 5,344,566 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $2,299,767,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ MSFT opened at $429.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a 12 month low of $385.58 and a 12 month high of $468.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average of $429.32 and a 200-day moving average of $426.14.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The software giant reported $3.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.10 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $65.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $64.57 billion. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.61% and a return on equity of 34.56%. Microsoft’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 12.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892. Company insiders own 0.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on Microsoft from $501.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $512.93.

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.