Promus Capital LLC Invests $2.17 Million in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,137 shares of the software giant's stock, valued at approximately $2,165,000. Microsoft makes up about 2.0% of Promus Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. IFS Advisors LLC increased its stake in Microsoft by 53.8% in the 4th quarter. IFS Advisors LLC now owns 100 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Avondale Wealth Management increased its stake in Microsoft by 144.4% in the 4th quarter. Avondale Wealth Management now owns 110 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Microsoft in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $141,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Microsoft

In other news, insider Bradford L. Smith sold 6,000 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $433.17, for a total transaction of $2,599,020.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 471,036 shares in the company, valued at $204,038,664.12. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Microsoft Price Performance

MSFT stock traded up $3.28 during trading on Thursday, hitting $455.39. 5,293,817 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 21,449,966. Microsoft Co. has a one year low of $344.79 and a one year high of $468.35. The stock has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $392.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $412.14. 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 (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The software giant reported $3.46 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.22 by $0.24. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.43% and a return on equity of 33.36%. The company had revenue of $70.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $68.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.94 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Microsoft Co. will post 13.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be paid a $0.83 dividend. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is presently 25.66%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MSFT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $472.00 to $482.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $475.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Microsoft from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Microsoft presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $509.16.

Microsoft 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.