Red Wave Investments LLC Has $3.97 Million Stock Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Red Wave Investments LLC decreased its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,221 shares of the software giant’s stock after selling 27 shares during the period. Microsoft makes up 1.4% of Red Wave Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Red Wave Investments LLC’s holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake 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. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $2,160,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,824,436 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position 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 worth $2,566,250,000 after purchasing an additional 2,404,348 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. raised its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Microsoft by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 54,590,791 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $23,490,417,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,030 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 71.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MSFT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $515.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Microsoft from $470.00 to $465.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Microsoft from $495.00 to $475.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Three investment 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, Microsoft presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $414.72, for a total transaction of $414,720.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 57,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,850,961.92. The trade was a 1.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Christopher David Young sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $423.66, for a total transaction of $3,050,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 103,366 shares in the company, valued at $43,792,039.56. This trade represents a 6.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,200 shares of company stock valued at $17,383,892 in the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Stock Down 1.5 %

MSFT stock opened at $409.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.90. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $385.58 and a fifty-two week high of $468.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $431.72 and a 200-day moving average of $423.79.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The software giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.08. Microsoft had a return on equity of 33.36% and a net margin of 35.43%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.93 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Co. will post 13.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 20th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 20th. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. Microsoft’s payout ratio is currently 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.