Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) Shares Purchased by Investment Management Corp of Ontario

Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its holdings in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 22.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 544,893 shares of the software giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,152 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 5.2% of Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Investment Management Corp of Ontario’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $234,467,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Microsoft by 35.7% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 95 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Microsoft in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $62,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 10.1% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 338 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $145,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MayTech Global Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the second quarter worth $200,000. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $540.00 to $530.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $509.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $425.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 117,294 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,911,598. This represents a 17.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 2,500 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $447.41, for a total transaction of $1,118,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 49,352 shares in the company, valued at $22,080,578.32. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,200 shares of company stock worth $17,383,892. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Stock Up 0.6 %

MSFT opened at $415.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $431.86 and a 200-day moving average of $423.85. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 EPS for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

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

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.