6,077 Shares in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Bought by Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV

Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,077 shares of the software giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,615,000. Microsoft makes up about 2.5% of Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Microsoft during the third quarter worth about $1,975,000. B&L Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,284,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $351,556,000. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $813,000. Finally, Timber Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Microsoft by 0.9% in the third quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 39,121 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $16,834,000 after buying an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Microsoft Stock Performance

Microsoft stock opened at $413.29 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $432.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $424.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. Microsoft Co. has a 52 week low of $385.58 and a 52 week high of $468.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.93 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.80%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is 26.73%.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $417.00, for a total transaction of $10,425,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. The trade was a 17.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total value of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 57,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. This trade 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 have sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Microsoft from $515.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Monday, October 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus 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.